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48TII CoNGKKss, i HOKSE OF KEPKKSENTATIVKS. S Mis. Doc. 
1st Session. >> ^ ^"- '*"• 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



LTFE AND CHARACTER 



THOMAS ALLEN 

(A REPRESENTATIVE ri;(>M .MISSOUUI), 



I>KT.lVKUr.l) IX THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE, 



FOIM V-SKVKXTII CONGRESS, FIHST SESSION 



IMUMSIIKH MY ORDER OF CONORKSS. 



WASHINGTON: 
(loVKKNM KNT I'KlXIINli OFFICE. 

ISS4, 
1 AL 



AX ACT to print rcrtain oiilnsiea ilL-liveicd in Congress upon tlie late Tlionias Allen. 

lie it enacted hi) the Senate and Hoiixe of nepresentatives of the rnited Stales of 
.1 tiierim hi Covgrevs anscmhled, That there be printed of the eulogies dellvcreil 
in Congress upon tlie late Thomas Allen, a member of the Forty-scventli Con- 
gress from the State of Missouri, twelve thousand copies of wliich four thou- 
sand shall be for the use of the Senate and eight thousand for the use of tlie 
House of Representatives; and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby di- 
rected to have printed a portrait of said Thomas Allen to accom))any said 
eulogies ; and for engraving ami printing said portrait the siuii of five hun- 
dred dollars, or so much as may be necessary, is hereby aiipropriated out of 
any money in the TreasMiy not otherwise appropriated. 

Approved, April Id, lrt84. 
2 



ADDRESSES 

ON THE 

Death of Thomas Allen. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE. 



In thk HorsE of Representatives, 

April 8, 1882. 

Mr. Frost. Mr. Speaker, the sad duty devolves iiiioii me of an- 
nouneing to the House the deatli of my colleague, Hon. Thomas 
Ai,EEN, Representative from tlie second district of the State of Mis- 
souri. I offer the resolutions wliicii I send to the desk, and ask for 
their adoption. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Besolred, That the House has heard with sincere regret the aTinouncenient 
of the death of Hon. Thomas Allen, late a Kepresentative from the Stat« of 
Missouri. 

nesolved ht/ the House of Representatives (the Senate eoncurrin;i), That a special 
Joint committee of seven Members and three Senators he a])pointed to take 
order for superintending the funeral and to escort the remains of the deceased 
to their last resting place, and all necessary expenses attending the execu- 
tion of this order shall he paid out of the contingent fund of the House. 

Resoh-ed, That the Clerk of the House communicate the foregoing resolu- 
tions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That, as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, this 
House do now adjourn. 

The question being taken on the re.solutious they were unani- 
iriduslv adopted ; and accordingly the Hou.se adjouriii<l. 



4 LIFE AND CHAHACTEi; OF THnMAfi ALLEN. 

June 7, 1X82. 
Mr. Hatch. Mi'. Sjieaker, I siihinit for prosoiit oonsiflcrntidii 
the resolution I send to tlie desk. 
The Clci'k read as follows: 

Hesol red , Tlinl tlio siiccial niiler for FricLny, tlie 2:i<l of June, at 3 o'clock p. 
111., be tlic iiriseiitation of .suitable resolution'! in refeionee to tlie dealli of tlie 
late Thomas Allkx, a Representative fnun tlie State of Missouri, witli siieb 
remarks as may lie subiiiltted tliereon. 

The resolution was adopted. 



In thk Horsi-; of Reprbsentative.s, 

June 2.3, 1 882. 

The Speaker. By order of the House, this day at 3 o'clo<;k 
was fixed for the submission of appropriate resolutions and re- 
marks with reference to the deatii of Hon. Thomas Allen, late 
a Representative from the State of Missouri. The hour desig- 
nated having arrived, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
MiiBsouri [Mr. Hatch]. 

Mr. Hatch. Mr. Speaker, I move the adoption of the resolu- 
tions which I send to the desk. 

The C^lerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That the House has Iieaid with profound regret and deep sorrow 
the atiuoiinceineiit of the deatli of Hon. Thomas Ai.r.EN, late a Representa- 
tive from the State of Missouri. 

Hesutred, That, in token of regard for the memory of the deceased, the 
members of this House wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 

L'esolved, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives be instructed to 
communicate these resolutions to the Senate of the United States. 

Ilvnolred, That ,as a further mark of respect to tlie iiieiiioiy of the deceased, 
the House do now adjouiu. 



LIFE AND CUARACTEl! OF THOMAS AFLFX. 



Address of Mr. Hatch, of Missouri. 

Mr. Spkakek : Hon. Thomas Allen, a Representative from 
tlie State of Mis.souri, tlied in the city of Washington on the 8th 
dav of April, 1882. On that clay the announcement of his death 
was made to the House and a committee appointed, consisting 
of seven Members and tliree Senators, to escort his remains to the 
city of Pittsfield, Mass., for interment. Hon. J. K. C'hahners, 
ofMissi-ssippi, tlien a menil)er of this House, was appointed by 
the Speaker as one of tliat coniniittee. Having known him many 
years and being an admirer of Mr. Allen, he had prepared some 
remarks upon his life and character which he had expected to 
deliver upon this occasion. When it was decided by the House 
that he was not a member of this Congress he left his manuscript 
with me, as the chairman of that committee, with a personal 
request that I should read it as a part of my remarks upon this 
occasion, which I now proceed to do. 

REMARKS PREPARED HY MR. CHALMER.><. 

Mr. Speaker: The committee selected by you under the order 
of this House to attend the funeral ceremonies of our deceased 
brother, Hon. Thomas Allex, of Missouri, have performed that 
.solemn dutv. We escorted his remains to liis native town, where 
they were temporarily deposited in his summer mansion l)uilt on 
the spot where once stood his grandliither's house, in which he was 
born. The funeral services were performed in the Congregational 
church of which his grandflither, Thomas Allen, was the first 
pa-stor, and we buried him beside his forefathers, in the family lot, 
in the cemetery of Pittsfield, Ma,ss. This is one of the most 
striking of the New England towns. Situated on the Berkshire 
hills, near the headwaters of the Housatonic River, it is 1,100 
feet above the level of the .sea, and its air is pure, bracing, and 
invigorating. 

There are no rough and precipitous mountains around it sng- 



6 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS ALI.EN. 

ge.stivc of Htroiig and uiu;iiltivatt'd mun, but tlio massive liills uiul 
Greylock Mountain, seen from a distance through the pure, clear 
atmosphere, are suggestive of calm, peaceful, and dignified man- 
hood. There are no mountain torrents to break the silence of the 
surrounding hills, but there are beautiful and pellucid lakes and 
clear, bold running streams that set the wheels of machinery in 
motion and send up a mingled hum from the voices of nature and 
art. To one who saw it thirty -three years ago Pittsfield jiresents 
the appearance of great improvement, but to one who studies its 
possibilities for the future it seems but in its infancy, with vast 
undeveloped resources and power still in reserve. It is a historic 
town and filled with honorable names and memories. 

The Aliens, the Larneds, the Pomeroys, and the Merrills were 
honored names in the days of the Revolution, and these names are 
preserved with honor by the present generation. We were shown 
the park beneath whose branching elms the citizen soldiers of Pitts- 
field assembled to march forth to battle in 1776, in 1812, and 
again in 1861. Here stood the old church from which Thomas 
Allen, the fighting parson, led his congregation to the battle of Ben- 
nington. The old frame building is gone, and in its place stands 
a massive structure of native granite with a memorial slab in com- 
memoration of Thomas Allen, the grandfather of our colleague ; 
and on the opposite side of the park stands the Berkshire Athe- 
neum, a princely donation to the town from our deceased friend, 
'and a lasting monument to his culture, his taste, his liberality, 
and his ennobling devotion to the home of his childhood. 

We reached Pittsfield on the day of its annual town meeting, 
and nothing could more clearly indicate the character of its in- 
habitants tlian their conduct on this occasion. No man could be 
more highly esteemed than Thomas Ali.en was esteemed by 
them. They showed this in every gesture, word, and look. 
There was no violent demonstration of feeling and no ostentatious 
parade, but there was manifest ai)pearance (jf deep and heartfelt 
manly grief; and yet tlie town meeting was not adjourned. It is 
a day of great political import in New England — a day on which 
the entire legislative business of the town is to be transacted for 



Llb-E jyi> rHAltAC'lER "/' TIKlMAS AI.LKN. 7 

the next ve-.ir, a.i<l with them duty co.ues Krst. Their ancestors, 
who tollowe.1 Tho.nus Alien to the hattle of Bennington, (lul not 
fire a -nn until they had Unelt on tiie battlefield and listened to a 
tervid^)rayer from their earnest leader, a.id their descendants 
move with the same precision and order to-day. 

The town meeting is democracy in its sim])lest tonn, where the 
people assemble in the town hall and legislate for themselves with- 
out the intervention of representatives. The town hall has been 
.•allcl the cradle of liberty, and it was recently said on this hoor 
In' ^Iv Tillman, of South Carolina, that if our liberties are ever 
overthrown the last struggle will be made at the door of a town 
hall in Xew England. It was amid such scenes and surrounded 
by such a people that Thomas Ali.en, the late member of Con- 
gress from the second district of Missouri, was born and reared. 
If birth-pla.'c has any influence over the 'destiny of man, if the 
scenes of childhood mold the character or shape the course of ma- 
turer vears, then the silent grandeur of the Berkshire hills im- 
pressed themselves upon the life and charac'ter of the modest, digni- 
fied and intellectual man whose loss we now mourn. 

Thomas Allen was born in Pittsfield, Mass., August 29, 
1813 in the midst of our second war with Great Britain, in 
which his father was a captain, and he grmluated at Union College 
in 1832 I leave to others the details of his remarkable and suc- 
cessful career and shall only call attention to a few leading features 
of his historv. With a good education and only !$25 in money, at 
the acre of nhieteeu, friendless and alone, he began the struggle ot 
life in the great metropolis of New York ; at the age ot sixty-nine 
he died, leaving an estate worth fifteen millions in money. After 
five years of hard labor and close economy in New York, at the 
age of twenty-three he appeared in Washington as the editor ol 
the Madisonian, through the columns of which he soon wielded a 
powerful influence in political affairs. In a contest for Public 
Printer, then conferred only on leading political writers, he was 
elected over such distinguished men as Gales and Seaton, of the 
National Intelligencer, and Blair and Rives, of the Globe. 

A few years later he was an acknowledged power in political 



8 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS A LI. EX. 

circles, cousulted about the formation of Mr. Tyler's Caljinct, and 
the editor of the Administration organ. Such rapid and brilliant 
Hueeess might haye addled the brains of a less self-poised and clear- 
heiided man. To a young man of talent, power, and, ambition 
nothing is more fascinating aud seductive than political life. To 
speak from the editorial tripod and watch the effect of his argu- 
ments upon eager and increasing readers, and see his sentiments 
quoted, commended, and followal by the multitude, gives pleasing 
and peculiar satisfaction. 

To speak from the hustings aud see the crowd swayed by his 
utterances, to hear the shouts of exultaut partisans, to feel the 
inspiring influence of that mesmeric sympathy which binds the 
speaker to the hearts of his audience, and to know that he can 
arouse the feelings and play upon the passions and prejudices of 
his hearers as the artist plays u])on an instrument thoroughly in 
tune, produces a delirium of delight, which unfits the orator for 
the more quiet work of business lif<!. And the fame of Henry 
Clay, the old man eloquent, upon whose words listening Senates 
hung, has made a seat in Congress the day-dream of every ambi- 
tious youth in the land. 

Mr. Ali>en tasted the intoxicating draught of political life, he 
received the plaudits of admiring friends, he heard the prophetic 
praise from Andrew Jackson, and obtained the entire confidence 
of a President in power, and yet the cup passed from him without 
injury and without regret. In 1842, when the administration of 
his friend, Mr. Tyler, was in full power, he retiretl from the polit- 
ical arena in Washington, and removed to Saint Louis, Mo., 
where he married a lovely and wealthy young lady and thor- 
oughly identified himself with the growing interests of his adopted 
home. Like Prentiss and Quitman, who were so much honored 
and loved in Mississippi, he came of the best New England stock, 
whicli was broadened and liberalized by transj)lanting in South- 
ern soil. 

The sudden change from a bare conqK'teiK y tu what was then 
great wealth, received with his i)ri(le, did not enervate the mind 
or slacken the energies of Mr. Ali.en, but he made it tributary to 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF TJIUMAS ALLEN. 9 

an iU'tivf, iiso till, ami suuces.sf'ul business aireer. Tom lienton, the 
great Missouri Senator, poiutiug across the Rocky Mountaius to 
the Pacitic Ocean, said : " There is the East." Tom Allkx, 
witching the inspiration, began the construction of the first of that 
system of Pacific railroads which has since become the great high- 
way of commerce between the East and the West. Railroad after 
railroad, and corporation after corporation, gi'ew and prospered 
under his successful management, until war came to check the 
prosperity of his adopted State. 

When peace was restored he once more entered actively into 
every enterprise calculated to increase the prosperity o( Saint 
Louis, and to him more than any other one man is due the liberal 
system of internal improvements adopted by the legislature (if 
Missouri, and the construction of the Iron Mountain Railroad, 
which opened up to the Saint Louis market the richest mineral 
region of the world. But in the midst of his arduous labors he 
found time for the intellectual enjoyment of literary and scientific 
studies and for the pleasing duties of social and domestic life. A 
cultured companion, a genial friend, an affectionate husband, and 
a devoted father, he was at the same time a sound lawyer, a strong 
political thiidver, and wonderful in Inisiness success — not wonder- 
ful in the rapidity or amount of his accumulations, for there are 
many who have surpassed iiim in both, but wonderful for the 
honesty and integrity of his dealings and the gradual and uniform 
success of his operations. While others have aiuiissed greater 
fortunes and with more rapidity, their pathway has been strewn 
with the wreck of thousands upon whose ruinetl fortunes they 
rose. 

Mr. Allkn was formed in a different mold. He was no stock- 
jobber, no speculator, aud no corporation wrecker, i)iit an honest, 
straightforward worker in the regular channels of business life. 
His fortune, though large, wa« the result of regular and legitimate 
profit in regular aud legitimate trade. His moral character was 
as pure as the air of his childhood's home; his principles were as 
firm as the granite in his native hills; and his intellectual 
strength, like the water-power of his native town, seemed to rise 



10 LIl'E AND CHARACTER OF TIIOMAH ALLEN. 

ecjiial tu every (leiiuuul upon it and to ])erf'orm its worii witli an 
ease that indicated immense power still in reserve. 

Whether we consider liim toiling in New York as attorney's 
clerk on a salary of )f300 a year, or successfully conducting a 
leading political journal in Washington, or shaping the internal- 
improvement system of Missouri in the State senate, or presiding 
over great corporations and turning railroad lines to the Pacific 
and the Southwest, or dying by inches under a painful and iucur- 
al)lc disease, v,e find him the same self-})oised, nnostentations man, 
bearing himself with dignity, ability, and courage. He signalized 
his love of ancestry and his devotion to his birth-place by pur- 
chasing his grandfather's farm and erecting a princely mansion 
where the family homestead once stood. He left a granite monu- 
ment to his cultured taste and his devotion to the cause of educa- 
tion in the Berkshire Atheneum, erected in his native village at a 
cost of $50,0(:)(). 

He left a monument of his liberal views and progressive spirit 
in the new fire-jjroof Southern Hotel erected in his adopted city, 
Saint Louis, the most magnificent and liest ajipointed hotel in the 
world. And in commemoration of his genius, perception, and 
business success he has left a name to be forever connected with 
the first of the great system of Pacific railroads and indissolubly 
linked with the wonderful Iron Mountain of Missouri. In poli- 
tics he was, like his grandfather, a thoroughgoing Democrat, and 
a desire to do hfs whole duty to his party impelled him at great 
risk to be present at the organization of this House; and this per- 
haps hastened his final dissolution. 

But the seeds of a fatal disease were clearly developed in his 
system long before his death, and he knew for many months that 
he nuist surely and shortly die. His heroic fortitude and (Christ- 
ian patience under his long and painful suffering and impending 
death were in perfect liarmony with bis whole character and life. 
A short time before his death, and when it was known that his 
end was near, ray attention was attracted by the statue of the 
dying Xapoleon in the C'orcoran Art Gallery. The cold marble 
seemed almost to breathe the anguish of the dying hero. His 



LIl'K AND (HARdVTICH OF THOMAS ALLEN. 11 

body swollt'ii witli disease liiid his face pinclied and slinmken witii 
pain, tells the story of a bursting heart which, like the imprisoned 
eagle, is beating itself to death against the wires of its cage. It 
pictured the end of an ambitious and dissatisfied soul ; the end of 
a man who knew he must die, and yet his untamed and untamable 
spirit speaks in tones of remonstrance and resistance, and demands 
one more chance to live and be free. 

While I gazed on it, I could but think of our patient, suiFering 
colleague, who was dying but a few short steps away. He, too, 
knew that he must die, and he was meeting death with the same 
(juiet Christian resignation that he had met the issues of life. He 
was not unwilling to die, and yet he expressed to his pastor the 
desire that he might have been sparal a few years more to do 
something in Congress for the home of his adoption. He was full 
of honors, and yet his spirit felt that its full mission had not been 
filled. He was full of years, and yet older men tiian he bore his 
body to tlie grave. At the head of his coftin as it lay in the 
church was a column of sweet-scented fiowers representing a 
broken shaft. The broken shaft is usually the emblem of a 
young life cut short in its career. This could not be said of 
Thomas Allex, and yet in his dying moments lie felt that he 
had left a portion of his work unaccomplished. 

When he retired fi-om the political arena in Washington in 
1842, the hope and desire that he might some day return, as a 
member of Congress might have filled his imagination as it did 
that of many ambitious young men before him. He had now 
gathered wealtli to the fullness of his desire. He had retired 
from active Ijusiness Ial)or and prepared for cidtivated enjoyment 
and political life, but, like Moses on Mount Pisgah, he was only 
jjermitted to behold the Canaan lie had so long sought. The 
overtaxed physical system fell beneath the strain imposed on it by 
a too vigorous mind ; the engine was too powerful for the frame 
tliat encased it, and the exhausted body perished while the spirit 
was yet strong. The broken shaft of sweet-scented flowers was a 
fitting emblem of a life which breathed only the fraai-ance of 
purity and a death that cut short a labor of usefulness and love. 



12 /.//''A' AND CBAUACTER OF THOMAS ALLEN. 

Ill coiiiiedioii witli tlif iviiiarkrs that I liad propu.sed to siiljiiiit 
on tlii.s solemn occasion — solemn to every member of the Missouri 
delegation particularly, and to all who knew Mr. Ali.kn in life — 
and without consuming the time of the House to read it at this 
time, I ))ro|)ose to print the able, carefully-prepared, and truthful 
tribute to the life and worth of Thomas Aij,en, made at his own 
home upon the occasion of his -burial by his pastor, Rev. J. L. 
Jenkins. 

SERMON. 

"Samuel (lied: aud all the Israelites were gathered together, aud lamented him. aud 
buried him in his huuse at Kamah." — I Samuel. 25, 1. 

Not siuce Moses,, who died four hundred ^\ ears before, had there been iu 
Israel so great a uiau as Samuel. Iu troublesome times he preserved order, 
administered justice. He cou.solidated the nation, founded schools, served 
faithfully aud wisely for thirty years in high positions. He died, and dying 
received the most generous appreciation and homage. 

The means hy which these were expressed are mentioned. I dwell for a 
moment upon each in order: 

First. "All the Israelites were gathered together.'' 8ays Mr. Stanley: 
"We are told with a peculiar emphasis of expression that all the Israelites, 
not one portion or fragment only, as might have been expected in that time 
of division and confusion, but all were gathered together around him who 
had been the benefactor of all." A time had come when men of all sections 
and factions were constrained to recognize eminent .services and eminent 
ability and eminent worth. They .sto))ped their disseusions, forgot party 
allegiance, put by local prejudices, personal grievances. Men who fbrceil 
Samuel from office and men who would keep him in it met at his grave and 
alike V'Dored him. It was a generous tribute, this gathering of all Ihe 
Israelites at the burial of Samuel. BVom the extremes of the kingdom, from 
its chief cities, men came to a quiet village that by their i)re.seuce they 
might express their appreciation of the labors and worth of the man who 
had died. 

Second. " They lamented him." Grief sooli becomes conventional. There 
are prescribed ways for manifesting it, a period fixed dining which signs of 
sorrow are exposed. When iu Europe a member of a royal family dies, other 
courts go into mourning for a specified time. Among ns, I believe, there are 
rules respecting the matter. Black is to be worn so long, displaced so grad- 
ually. We early find traces of such conventionalities. Aaron aud Moses 
were mourned for thirty days. Of Samuel it is simply said, "They lamented 
him." The plain, unqualified statement testifies to the genuineness of the 
.sorrow; a sorrow superior to ceremonies ami demanding its own free, unre- 
stricted indulgence! What heartier tribute was possible! "They lamented 
him." 



LIFE JNI) rllAllACTKi: "/■' THOMAS ALLEN. V^ 

Third. "They buried him in his house at Rainah." lu his huusi- uieaus 
probably in the court or garden attached to his house. We have another 
account of .Samuel's burial. "All Israel had lamented him and buried him 
in Raniah, even in his own city." Evidently the great, simple man's prefer- 
ences were regarded. Sorrow for him was tender, as it was genuine and 
universal. They buried him in his own house at Ramah, his own city. 
There were more famous places: Gibeah, the royal residence, was one. 
Saul, who was fond of processions and display, might h.ave arranged a 
splendid funeral pageant and brought crowds to his capital. Daring, impul- 
sive as he was, he could not violate the intrinsic jiropricty which den.anded 
the burial of the simple, stern prophet in the village where he was born and 
lived. So he was buried in Ramah, his own city. 

This Ramah had the power of awakening strong local attachments. Its 
probable site was a hill-toj), now easily seen from .lerusaleni, looking to the 
northeast. It commanded line views. Its people were intelligent and good, 
if Sanniel's )>arents represent them. Here he was born and carefully nur- 
tured by his wise and pious mother. Here he nnide his own home when a 
man ; here he located a school of the i>rophet8; "here,"' as Matthew Henry 
expresses it, " he enjoyed himself .ind his God iu his advanced years:" and 
here, iu the place he had served and made illustrious, he was buried. 

The power of awakening strong local attachment long continued to 
Ramah. A thousand years after Samners death the little village is made 
famous agaiu by a worthy citizen who could not be tempted from it by all 
the splendors of a great city and capital. Jo.seph, the honorable councilor, 
•who went in boldly to Pilate and begged the Lord's body aud fitly buried it, . 
was known as Joseph of Arimathea, another name for Ramah, a resident, if 
not a native, of the place where Sanniel was born and lived and was buried. 
To be lamented as Samuel was by all his countrymen, to be monrned for a 
very great number of days, to be ])ea(efully buried in his own quiet and 
loved village, were there not here ample compensations for years of industry 
and public service. Not till men are gone are they known. Under such 
condition do we live. Our lives here are such that wh.at is best is seldom 
most conspicuou,s. Here influences that warp and distort judgments are 
many and strong. Here occasions for misunderstandings, for conflict, for 
alienations, are so frequent that perfect concord is impossible. Wise men do 
not expect it. What is possible, what may be reasonably expected, is that 
when a man dies, then his fellows will be quick to see and confess his worth 
and the worth of his services. If, imder the great illumination which death 
dift'uses, men remain blind aud refuse to see the excellencies made apparent, 
we are forced to recognize the presence aud power of inveterate prejudice or 
wicked hate. If, on the other hand, when men die and in their ascension 
lose the disfigurements and imperfections belonging to the earthly life, and 
they who are spectators exult in the new clear revelations of truth .and 
beauty, ami long to abide under them evermore, what worthier tribute to 
ihe di'ad can there be, and what conduct worthier of the living '. 

We often hear the homage Jiaid Ihe dead ilisparagcd, undervalued. II is 



14 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF TBOMAS ALLEN. 

called cheap, and a, poor .substitnte for the just treatment of the living. To 
me it seems very precions. Very precious, for the act euil)odies the best sen- 
tinients and wise-st judgments of men. Men see clearly and feel rightly at 
the grave as nowhere else. Here clouds and mists rise and disai)pear, preju- 
dices are carried off, all the spiritual forces are at liberty to act freely, with- 
out hinderance. Hence the real, substantial worth of the homage paid the 
dead. Men do nothing of liner quality. Estimates made at the grave par- 
take of the clemency and justice of Heaven. It was not cheap aud meaning- 
less, this gathering of all the Israelites at Ramah, the mourning for Samuel 
for a very great number of days, and his c[uiet burial in his own city. The 
whole world held then nothing of greater value. Here were love, gratitude, 
veneration. No costlier offerings could be. There was almost iutinite worth 
in them. So when any gr.ave friends and acquaintances gather, when men 
come from afar to be present, when every available means is used for 
expressing affection, respect, the homage is not cheap and meaningless. It 
is precious and significant. 

That burial in Bamah three thousand years ago, when friends aud fellow- 
citizens gathered and lamented and buried a faithful, good man, has had 
innumerable repetitions, is being repeated now and here. 

Thomas Allen was born in this town August '29, 1813, in a house stand- 
ing on the site where, in 1858, he built the one from which we have just 
brought his body. His father was Jonathan Allen. He was named for his 
gr.andfather, Thiunas Allen, the first pastor of this church. His mother was 
Eunice Williams Larned, granddaughter of Colonel Israel Williams, of Hat- 
field. .So that it has been said Mr. Allkn "derived his descent on one side 
from one of the Revolutionary whigs most noted for his uncompromising zeal, 
and on the other from one of the stannchest American adherents to the 
British Crown." His ancestry was not a weak one. The chances were there 
would be in him a double portion of strength. It is man's first and most 
lasting advantage to be well born ; to inherit a good body, full of vitality, a 
sound mind, tirin will, a controlling moral sense. There was once in New 
England a generation able to transmit these valuable legacies. It could not 
give children great riches, great honors ; it could and did give what was of 
greater worth — health, intellect, determination, con.science. Into a large 
inheritance of these Mr. Allkn was born. His education began formally in 
the schools of this town, in which he continued till he entered Union College 
in 182'.». 

His purposed destination was the law. In 18:!5 he was admitted to the 
New York bar. His career was not to be that of a lawyer. He began early 
to write ; wrote so much that it was said of him at twenty-one that no 
young man in the country of his age had written so much. His vocation 
seemed found ; he was to be an editor. It proved not to be his calling. 

He betrayed early a taste for politics. His mind was suited to grave pub- 
lic questions ; he had the power to influenee by strong, persuasive speech. 
But his life-work was not to be that of the mere partisan politician. After 
various es.says iu dili'ereut directions he was guide<l to his assigned t;isk. 



LIFE jyD CHARACTER OF THOMAS ALLEK. 15 

Devout believprs in God find marks of His wisdom in tlie orderly migrations 
of birds and beasts ; devout students of liistory see God in emigrations, in 
colonizations, in the grand niovenu-nts by which the world's population is 
transferred from one scene of ettort to another. This large faith bears reduc- 
tion and individualization. The steps of a man are ordered by God. There 
are always foreordinations re,|niring tlie birth to be in the proper Bethle- 
hem, the preparatory life in Nazareth, the years of active service in busy. 
Trowing Capernaum. Men do not determine their own careers; they fulhll 
them. We are all God-led as truly as were the Israelites. What I am assert- 
in" was true of Mr. Allen. There were years of uncertainty, of attempts, of 
experiments. He was feeling after the track he was to pursue through the 
wildernessof this world; he was seeking after the work given him to do. 
His seeking was in time rewarded. 

The workman and the work came together. The work was a great work. 
We all learn early the famous saying of Lord Bacon, to the effect that the 
most heroical of works is the founding of a colony. He is called to grand 
tasks who has to do with shaping the destiny of a great state. A first 
necessity is its enrichment by the discovery and use of its own resources by 
the easy introduction of needed supplies from without. Changes have come 
over the world. Forts, defenses, are not a primal need. Populations are 
not now to be kept out of given territories; they are to be tempted into 
them. It is high service those do who cast up highways in the wilderness ; 
who redeem the fruitful earth from barrenness'; who expose the treasures of 
its mines; who, in the biblical sense of the word, "subdue the earth." 
These are your true conquerors. They come up out of Edoms, their gar- 
ments not rolled in blood but fragrant with the odors of field and vineyard ; 
they mark their progress not by ruin and desolation, but by the waste places 
they build. The paaii chanted over their conquests is without wail or sigh, 
is tiie merry .shout of harvesters, the undisturbed laughter of children in vil- 
lage streets. 

A new type of heroes is appearing. The old traditional type is becoming 
extinct. The man, sure of honor, is the explorer, the inventor, the discov- 
erer, who enriches hnman life and adds to the well-being of mankind; who 
makes states strong not in fortresses but in the resources supporting great 
populations and in the means whereby great populafions are made intelli- 
■ gent, virtuous, pious. He is called to a supreme work who has to do with 
shaping the destiny of a great commonwealth. That is a heroical work 
whose end is public enrichment and strengthening of a state. Men do not 
blunder upon such works. God girds men for them. It was so with Mr. 
Allen. He was raised up for a work and so found it. He was led from this 
his native village, with many wanderings, half across the continent to a 
spot predestined to be the seat of empire, early christened with a most sover- 
eign name. He saw possibilities others saw not, and so was a prophet. He 
h:ul the voice of a prophet, and aroused the people. He had the compelling 
foiL-e of a prophet, and his bidding was more or less heeded. Tims, under n 
divine guidance and because of a divine endowment, did Mr. Ai.i.en lind the 



16 UFIC ,l\n CH.in.lCTEl! OF THOMAS ALLEN. 

/ 
gioat, grand work of liis lifV. It might he fliat a man should Ix- led to hin 
assigned woik and be nnconseioiis of tlic leading. He might think the work 
a discovery of his own, or he might think nothing of it. Neither was possi- 
Iile to Mr. Allen. He had what men of his class commonly have, faith in 
God. It is not the nnheliever that, Abraham-like, leaves country and home 
and friends for an unknown land. Faith has wrought civilizations, and only 
faith. The world's best workers have been and must be lielievers. Mr. 
Allkn was a believer in God. " I know not," he said, " how is it with 
other men, but I have been a man of prayer all my life. 1 have always 
liefore importiint decisions sought guidance from (iod.'' He believed the 
ordering of his stei)s was with God. 

His aims were to make his labors promotive of divine ends. I am not 
claiming that he did not seek his own profit in what he did; I am not sup- 
posing that Mr. Allkn was devoted to the special service of God as the early 
.lesnit preachers and missionaries were. I am, however, very certain that 
it was his aim to promote on the earth the kingdom of God. For this phrase 
is a large one; the devoted Jesuit did not understand it fully; perhaps not 
so well as the energetic, far-seeing man of business. That which is natur.il 
is first. A .state must have a material Ijasis; good society must have physi- 
cal resources. It is a divine work to find and supply these. Manna no 
longer falls from heaven. Ravens no longer bring food. The kingdom of 
(iod may not be meat and drink, but it would soon, so far as the earth is 
concerned, come to an end without them. Mr. Allen did not confine his 
efforts to merely material results. By an early and always indulged impulse 
he was a man of varied and pronounced scholarly tastes. He was, as has 
been said, an eft'ective writer. It is possible to nuike a valuable volume of 
the ]iapers prepared V>y him on diftereut subjects. He was interested in and 
jiromoted the sciences. He was the wise patron of education. His wisdom, 
his insight, are conspicuous in his gift to his native town. He could do 
nothing better for it than encourage the habit of good reading among its 
people. The beautiful building whose doorway is fittingly draped in mourn- 
ing to-day will not only perpetuate here the memory of his name but will be 
a testimony to his wisdom. 

I have not intended any studied analysis of Mr. Allen's character. I 
think the hasty sketch given reveals him. He was n-ell born; had found a 
w ork — a work that could be done only by a man rarely gifted. He did his 
work well. He did a great work well. There were once princes in Europe 
ruling a smaller territory than Mr. Allen managed, a smaller number of 
subjects than he had nu'ii under him, handling no such sums of money as he 
handled. This great work he did, and did well. And it is measure and 
indication of the rare powers in him. Besides these great executive abilities 
he had other rare gifts. Not every great worker is a scholar. Mr. Allen 
was. Not every great worker is a man of large heart. Mr. Allen was. He 
had two homes. He did the impossible; he served two masters. We kimw 
he loved Pittsncld. lie lame back when able and bought his birth-place, 



LIFE AM) CIIMlACTICi: or TffOMAS AT.l.Ey. \T 

built lirru for himself a home, deliijUtcil fo ci'mc to it. And here he was 
interested in our local jiftiiirs. Would have our burial place beantitied. 
Among his last gifts was one toward the improvement of the interior of this 
church. He attended the meetings of the county historical society, pre- 
jiared and read papers before it. Was president of the board of trustees of 
the Atheneuni. And here he is brought for burial that he might rest with 
his forefathers. Pittstield did not engross all Mr. Allen's affection, inter- 
est. He loved the city which was his houu'. and whose prosperity he so 
wisely and successfully promoted. Here he was loved, respected. It did not 
seem to us a strange thing when his fellow-citizens elected him member of 
Congress. I think we all rejoiced in their act. Not only that it honored 
one of ns. bnt because it was an honor most worthily bestowed. Here, where 
he was known, where the discipline of his life was known; here, where his 
tinn devotion to the Union was known, here it was felt that a new and 
strong man was putting his hand uimu the National Government, and that 
therefore it would be the more stable. To his adopted home Mr. Allex was 
as loyal as to his birth-place. "I would like," he said in his last sickness, 
"to live a few years longer. There are some things I would like to do for 
Missouri." He died in her service. In her loss we share. Our hope for her 
is that other men, as able, as good, may be found to serve her, and lead her 
on to greater and greater prosperity. 

There was in Mr. Allen a strong moral sense. He had that which has 
beeu in the past rather characteristic of New England. We have not always 
excelled in fine manners, in many elegancies, but we have had a robust sense 
of what was right and wrong. Hence reforms have so easily gotten and 
kept a foothold here. We are growing practical, are being practical in mat- 
ters of expediency, and yet we believe wrong is wrong and right is right, 
that they are contrary one to the other, as far apart, as irreconcilable a.s 
light and darkness, heaven and hell. This New England conscientiousness 
was in Mr. Allen. He discriminated. He felt the imperative claim of the 
right. He revolted from the wrong. At the b.ase of his character was this 
firm rock. Allied to his nuiral sensitiveness was Mr. Allen's faith in God. 
He had this, not as an inheritance, but as a conviction, and not as a useless 
conviction. God was an intelligent person to him, a being from whom direc- 
tion could be received, to whom service was due. Mr. Allen believed in 
immortality. He may well have believed in it. He could not easily con- 
clude that a force which had been what his personal will and energy had 
been should suddenly cease. He never supposed it would. In the long sick- 
ness which he suftered from his mind was naturally much engaged with the 
supreme problems of life and death. He was able to think calmly and pro- 
tractedly. His thoughts were high. He had, he said, during his illness, 
revelations. Yes, revelations of God, and in many ways. Evidently (iod 
was in his thoughts much. So in those weeks, months, of pain, of coufine- 
ment, as he was drawing nearer to God, God drew near to him. And at last 
he was not, for God had t.ikeu him. 
2 AI. 



18 LllK JaI) ( HARACTEll OF THOMAS ALLEN. 



Address of Mr. Robinson, of Massachusetts. 

Mr. Si'EAKEl! : A'cry few of nil the member.s of this House 
wlio on the last Easter Sunday assembled to pay their last tribute 
of resj)ect over the mortal remains of Thomas Allex were able 
to reeall his presence as that of one of their associates on thi.s 
floor. The openinj^ of the present session fonnd him .stricken 
with an incurable disease, and weakness and pain prevented him 
from participation, except for a day or two, in the important work 
to which he had been called by his constituents. 

But, sir, when the committee, acting under your appointment, 
bore his body to the State that gave him birth, to the town where 
for so many vears he had been an honored and distinguished citi- 
zen, thev were received by the companions of his boyhood and 
the associates ot his mature age, gathering to testify their high 
regard for his ujiright life and to tenderly commit his remains to 
the soil of which lie was the otfspring. 

From his simple home on the Berkshire hills, in the t)ld ( om- 
monwealth of Massachusetts, he had gone forth, obedient to the 
mission of duty's call, and half-way across the continent had 
wrought into the development and destiny of a sister Sfaitc his 
indomitable energy, his generous culture, his devotetl patriotism; 
and now, life's toils and trials ended, the sheaves of honor and 
success garnered in, he was buried where life had been the sweet- 
est, where his affection had most fondly lingered, where his eyes 
and his thoughts had yearningly turned in health and in sick- 
ness — his mo.st coveted resting-place. Other climes and other 
lands he had enjoyed, but no place was so dear to him as his 
native town of Pittsfield. Home again ! He sleeps in hallowed 
ground, on the hill side so precious in his sight, amid scenes that 
<rl:iddened and inspired him and made the poet's trii)ute Iiis own : 

Home of luy lieart! to me more fair 

Tbnii gay Versailles or Windsor's lialls: 
'I'lie painted, sliiiigly towii-lioiise, wliere 

Tlie IVeeiii.-iii's vote fur frcciliiiri ImIIs; 



J.IFE AMI rllAUACTER OF THOMAS AI.LKN. 19 

The simple roof where priiyer is math', 

Than Gothic groin ami colonnade; 
The living temple of the heart of man, 

Than Rome's sky-moekinj; vault, or many-spired Milan. 

Then ask not why to these lileak hills 

I cling, as clings the tufted moss : 
To bear the winter's lingering chills, 

The mocking spring's perpetual loss. 
I dream of lands where summer smiles, 
And soft winds blow from spicy isles; 
]5ut scarce would Ceylon's breath of flowers be sweet, 
Could I not feel thy soil, New England, at my feet ! 

Traciug the career uf Mr. Allex frotn liis birth, Angast 29, 
1813, to his death, April 8, 1882, oiii; finds very mucii to awaken 
admiration. Born of a lineage that had for several generations 
nobly illustrated some of the Ijest of New England blood and 
eharacter, he entered upon the work of his life, inspiral by the 
great examples of hi.s ancestry, endowed with an unyielding energy, 
and e([uipped with a liberal education in the schools and coUegets 
of hi.s time. Family misfortunes Ijrought pecuniary di.*aster, and 
he was suddenly forced to confront the world single-handed and 
alone. The disappointment \vas to him, however, but temporary, 
and the sterling qualities of his minil and heart immediately dem- 
onstrated his capacity for success. Whether in his chosen profes- 
sion of the law, or in literary labor, to which he devoted leisure 
moments to add to his scanty income, hard work and tuifaltering 
application were not dista.steful to him, and he thereby made pos- 
sible all his future attainments. 

Tiie scanty sum of a few dollars, all his father was able to give 
him as he set out on his jdurney to liegin life for himself in the 
city of New York, by no n\%-A»s constituted his only capititl. 
Country boy thougii he was, poor in this world's goods, he was 
richly blessed with a stout heart, a well-ordered intellect, correct 
personal habits, stauncli integrity, and the fear of God. Had the 
circumstances of his early manhood been tnore favorable, as is tlic 
common estimation, the better qualities in him might have never 



20 ril'l''. ASl> clIAHAirEI! of TIIOMAS ali.ex. 

iisscrtwl tliL'insL'lves, mikI his lii'u iniglit have drifted away iiiti) tiie 
too common monotony of pnr])o.seles8 and fiHiUle.ss existence. 

Lord of liinisi'ir, llioiifjli not of hinds. 
And Inivinj; nothing, yi't li.id all. 

In 1837 INIr. Ali,i;x, then i>nt twenty-tliree years old, entered 
into tlie hroad field of jonrnalisni in the face of obstacles that\\on]<l 
liave disheartened a man of feebler mold. The bnsinessand finan- 
cial interests of the eonntry were then in an alarming state of 
disorder ; distress was threatening at all points; the very air was 
filled with prophecies of evil ; the Federal (Tovernment was openly 
declared to be the cause of the impending ruin ; and men were not 
wanting even in public stations wlio directly advised resistance to 
the constituted authorities. The time demanded fearless and patri- 
otic discussion of the important questions at issue, and the word 
of the press might be potent to .save or to destroy the Government. 
In the first number of the ]\Iadisonian, which was published in 
Washington in August, 18."57, Mr. Ali,kn paid just tribute to Mr. 
Madison's great abilities, his disinterested devotion to the country'.s 
welfare, and his purity of life, and declared that "under the tute- 
larv auspices of his great name, and by the steady light of the 
])rinciples and virtues which consecrate and endear it, we shall en- 
deavor to steer our course over the stormy ocean upon which wc 
have entered, in the humble hope of rendering some service to otu- 
country at a jieriod of difficulty and danger which demands the 
best exertions of all her .sons." In the sharp contests which fol- 
lowed, in the press and in the |)ublic assembly, ilr. Ali.en'.s pen 
and voice everywhere gave proof of his power and patriotism, and, 
despite the jealousy of formidable rivals, he fought his way to un- 
ilonbted recognition in the political councils of the nation. 

During the la.st forty years of his life Mr. Allex inaugurated 
and completed va.st works of internal improvement in the States of 
Missouri and Arkansas, and successfully managed gigantic cnter- 
])ri.scs that startle us into wonder at their extent and importance. 
The residt of iijs business sagacity, his intelligence, and his uncou- 



IJfE ANli riJAH.ICTK/^ OF TIIUMIS ALI.ES. 21 

qiierable will are to be plainly traced in the luagnifii-eiit develoi)- 
nieuts of Ills adopted State. Meantime, tlioiigh eno;ro".s^ed with the 
responsibility of great publie works and the nianagenient of vast 
financial concerns, he never omitted an occasion to manifest his deep 
interest in science, literature, and the arts. To his nnuiificence 
Washington University, in Saint Lonis, is indebted for the endow- 
ment of a professorship of minesand metallnrgy. Pnblic addresses 
and contribntions to the journals of the time have established his 
high rank in scholarly taate and in piiilosophieal and literary ac- 
ipiiremeuts. He loved work of all kinds, and had a wonderful 
aptn&ss for it; and so his life was many-sided, varied in its devel- 
opment, and widely beneficent in its great accomplishments. 

From the great fortune wiiieh he amassed he made lil)eral dona- 
tions in aid of public enterprises in Pittsfield. He contributed 
generouslv toward the establishment of a pul)lic lil)rary, and prin- 
cipally through ills exertions a eiiarter was obtained for tiie Berk- 
shire Atheneum, " for the purpo.se of maintaining in the town of 
Pittsfield an institution to aid in promoting education, culture, and 
refinement, and diffusing knowledge by means of a library, reading 
rooms, lectures, nuiseums, cabinets of art, and hi.stori«d and natu- 
ral curiosities." A beautiful gothic building, constrmited with a 
union of Berkshire limestone and Missouri granite, stands across 
the square from his late summer residence, his free gift to the town, 
and dedicated as a free library for tlie use of the inhabitants. No 
marble or bronze above his grave can be so fitting a monument to 
his memory as this edifice, rich in its associations and beauty — 
grander than any mausoleum of olden time, typical of Christian 
civilization — the portal for coming generations to enter into a 
bi'oader culture and a higher appreciation of the best, the most 
beautiful, and the purest treasures of human \\k. 

Always the patriot more than the partisan, Mr. Allen never 
faltered in Ins devotion to his country's highest welfare. Disloy- 
alty met with no toleration from him. AVhen the gathering storm 
of rebellion was imminent above tiie horizon, out of liis own priv- 
ate means he equipped a company for the nation's defense, and in 



22 LIFE .4X1) iff.lHACTEl! OF THOMAS ALLEN. 

all the bitter struggles of the war, whether he were in Massachu- 
setts or Missouri, he was ever the prouuuiieed aud uueompnunisiiig 
friend of the national Union, and conspicuous for his charities in 
behalf of the righteous cause. The traditions of the Revolution 
were household woi'ds to him, and liberty and loyalty were as 
sacredly cherished in his heart as the}' had been so heroically ex- 
emplified and enforced in the lives and teachings of his honored 
ancestry. 

He was a true man, a liberal benefactor, a safe and wise coun- 
selor, a cultured gentleman, a consistent Christian. 

The youth of our time may well emulate him in the develop- 
ment of the highest and the best in American life and cliaracter. 
The country has suffered great loss in that his death deprived us all 
of the incalculable benefits of his matured judgment, his rare abili- 
ties as a legislator, and his wise counsel in sha])ing beneficent legis- 
lation for the good of the whole people. It is in the service of 
such men as he that our institutions find their greatest stability aud 
our country realizes its grandest destiny. We pause to-day to join 
in these memorial exercises, not for his sake, but for our own and 
our country's. His work among men is ended ; his earthly rec- 
ord is complete. AA'ords of eulogy may add nothing to th€ honor 
due his name and chui-acter, but they may well stimulate those uiioii 
whom the great responsibilities uf public service in the present aud 
the future shall rest to higher ideals and stricter fidelity. 

God give us men ! A time like this demanils 

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, aud ready hands; 

Men whom the lust of office does not kill : 

Men whom the spoils of office cauuot buv ; 
Jlen who possess opinions and a will : 

Men who have honor — men who will uot lie ; 
Men who can stand before a rlemagogue, 

And damn his treacherous tlatteries without winking: 
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog 

In public duty aud in private thinking ; 
For while thc> ralible, with their thumb-worn creeds, 
Their large professions and their little deeds. 
Mingle in seltish strife, lo! I'reedom weeps. 
Wrong rules the land, and waiting .lust ice sleeps. 



lAI'lC AND rllAUArTEl: I"' THOMAS AI.I.HS. 2.') 



Address of Mr. Hewitt, of New York. 

Mr. Spkakkr: For Thomas .Vllkn Missouri does not mourn 
iilone. Massachusetts has already laid a wreath upon his tonil.. 
New York joins with her sister State in the expre.ssion of a coin- 
mou sorrow. Before he went to :\rissouri, Allkn belonged to 
New York, and in my own city achieved his first success and gave 
the evidence of those enduring iiualities which assured a succe.ssfid 
career in everv portion of this land of intiiiitc possibilities. No 
better type of "what is styled the American character lias ever ex- 
isted. Born of the very best New England stock, running back 
to the advent of the Puritans in the old Bay State; grandson of 
the " Fghting Parson " imin.ntalized by the classic and sympathetic 
description of Was'iingtou Irving; one of a large family of chil- 
dren, with the inheritiince only of good principles, a clear head, and 
a firm will trained to self-reliance in the midst of honorable and 
favorable poverty ; educated in a New England academy, and at 
Union College under the friendly guidance of Dr. Nott, anil l)e- 
ginniug his career at nineteen years of age, with t2') saved from 
"he frugal resources of a godly father; coming to a great city in 
which he was an utter stranger; working for a pittance while 
waiting for the opportunities wliich youth never fails to find when 
governed by hope and guided by virtuous resolves, the youthful 
Ali.EN presents a spectacle alike intenstingand instructive to the 
young whose career is before them and to the old who arc ncuring 
the end of the race which is set before us. 

Others have told the story of his eventful life, full of labor, of 
hopes, of disappointments, of struggles, of changes of occupation, 
of public usefulness, of the successful management of great enter- 
prises, of the final achievement of fame and fortune, not merely 
without a blemish on his good name, with honor from all who 
knew liim, crowned at last by the apjiroval of the community in 
which his best and most active years had been pa.ssed, in his elec- 
tion to the House as the chosen representative of their interests 



24 I-ll'i: -lyjJ (HAUACTER OF THOMAS ALLKN. 

and their aspiratious fur the pre.-^erviitiuu (if good governiiieiit ;iii<l 
civil liberty. 

I confess that when J iieanlthat Thu.ma.s Ali.en wa.stobea mem- 
ber of the Forty-seventh Congress I felt a profound sense of satis- 
faction and relief. I knew that another advocate for sound prin- 
ciples in finance, in taxation, and general legislation had been added 
to our number. I realized that his great practical experience in 
the affairs of life would re-enforce the views which I have had the 
honor to present and advocate on this floor. I knew that "a king 
among men" and a ".seer among the sages " had come into our 
midst, and I felt ready to follow where his wisdom, experience, 
and prudence might lead. 

Alas, this hope is disappointed by the stern mandate of death, 
not untimely perhaps for him, but all too soon for the welfare of 
the country to wiiose service he had consecrated the remaining 
years of his life. Wlien I took his hand at the opening of the session 
I saw in liis wan and wasted features the dread sentence of coming 
dissolution. I knew tiien that my hopes were in vain and that my 
heart must limit itself to futile regrets of what "migiit have been," 
if he hud come to us with health and strengtii and the old fire 
which had guided him from Massachusetts to New York, from New- 
York to Washington, at a time when the conflicts (,>f the press were 
waged witii fierce vigor and unequaled ability ; from Wa.shiugton 
to Missouri, where he became a power in the land and a tower of 
strength for all good works. 

From his dving bed he sent me the draft of a bill on a sub- 
ject of public importance, and the notes of a speech which he in- 
tended to delivei-, and wliich I hold in my hand, hoping that I 
might take up the task wliieli his weary hands were forced to de- 
cline; but I never saw liim more, and 1 siiall never see again one 
of the best and purest and ablest of the citizens who iiave ever 
served the state, and contributed l>y their lives to make this Re- 
public not only the hope of the poor and oppressed in all lands, 
biit the wonder ot the world in material, moral, and social prog- 
re.ss. 

Such a career as Ai.lkn's; sucii purity and simplicity of char- 



IJFE AM) CII.IUACTEK OI' THOMAS Al.LIJ.W 25 

acter jdineil to siicli rapacity for a<'Ooiiipli?liiiig result.-- ; .--ucli devo- 
tion to tlie public welfare, without neglecting the interet^t.-i of those 
wiio were near and dear to him; such firm adherence to the funda- 
mental principles of eijuity and justice when the temptation of 
passion, prejudice, and personal interest was presented on every 
side, is the best answer to the pessimistic spirit which decries the 
age in which we live and denies to it the possession and the glory 
of men who, like the fathers of the Republic, are ready to sacrifice 
life and fortune for the maintenance of the right. 

Recent events in tliis country have shown that the okl heroic 
spirit is not dead, l)ut that the "eternal years of God" run on, 
not for the extinction of truth, but for the exhibition of unselfish 
patriotism and for the achievement of high and noble resolves such 
as animated the life and shaped the career of Thomas Allen, to 
whose meuKjry the House of Representatives now renders reverent 
and grateful homage. 

Mr. Hatch. Mr. Speaker, I no^\■ ask the adoption of the resolu- 
tions which have been read. 

The resolutions were adopted unanimously, and the House ad- 
journed. ^^^ 



I'ROCHHDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



In the Senatk of thk United States, 

Aprino, 1882. 

The 1'iiESiDENT pro tempore. The Chair lays before the Senate 

rcsohitious from the House of Representatives, which will be read. 

The Principal Legislative Clerk read as follows : 

L-esolved That the House has heard Nvith sinceie regret the annouuceineiit 

,.f the death of Hon. Thom.^s Ai.i.en, h.te a Representativ.- frou, the State ol 

Missouri. „ . • \ ti...* ., 

ne^olved b,i th, House of Ilepre^e,,tatives {the Senate co„c„rru,g). Ihat . 
special ioi,>teo,umitteeors..veuMeu.l.ers aud three Senators be appo.n ed 
to take order for superintendins the funeral aud to escort the remains ol he 
deceased to their last resting place, and all necessary expenses attending the 
execution of this order shall l-e paid o,.t of the coutiugent fund of the 

"'Zo/r<.rf, That the Clerk of the House counnuuicate the foregoing resolu- 
tions to the Senate. ,. „ , 1 ti.i. 
Itesolved, That, as a u.ark of resp.Tt to the uumory ot the deceased, this 

House do now adjourn. 

Mr. Vest. Mr. President, I submit the following- resolutions : 
Resolved, That the Senate has received with profound sensibility the mes- 
sage of the House of Representatives announcing the death of Hon. Thomas 
\LLEX, a Representative from the State of Missouri. 

nesolved That the Senate concur in the resolutions adopted by the House 
of Representatives, an.l that the President ,„-o tempore of the Senate appoint 
three Senators to escort the remains of the deceased, in coi.junetiou with the 
committee on the part of the House, as provided iu said resolutions. 

The re,solutions wore unanimmisly agreed to. 
Mr. Ve,st. Mr. Pre.sident, as a further mark of respect U> tli 
memory of the deceased, 1 move that the Senate <lo n..w aili'-uin 
The nidtioii was agreed to, and the Senate adjourned. 



c 



28 rjFK ANii iii.iii.irria; of tiiomas .illex. 

June l'.-J, 1 .s.S2. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Mc;Phkk- 
soN, its Clerk, communiaited to tiie Senate tiie intelligence of the 
death of Hon. THOir.vs Allex, late a member of the House from 
the State of Missouri, and transmitted the resolutions of the 
House thereon. 

Mr. CoCKiiEi-L. I ask that the resolutions of tiie House be laid 
before the Senate. 

The President pro tcnijjore. The resolutions of the House of 
Representatives will be read. 

The Acting Secretary read as follows : 

Kesulued, That tUe House has heard with profouud regret aud deep sorrow 
the anuouuceuieut of the death of Hou. Thomas Allkx, hite a Kcpreseuta- 
tive from the State of Missouri. 

Eesolred, That, in token of rej'ard for the iiieinory of the deceased, tlie 
iiieiubers of this House wear tlie usual badge of iiionrniug for thirty days. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House be instructed to communicate these 
resoUitious to the Seuate of tlie United States. 

Hesolved, That, as a further uuirk of respect to thi- memory of the deceased, 
the House do now adjourn. 

Mr. CoCKRELL. ^Ir. President, I a,sk for the present (considera- 
tion of the resolutions which I send to the Chair. 

The President pro tempore. The Senator from Missouri asks 
for the consideration of the resolutions he offers, which will be 
read. 

The Acting Secretary read as follows : 

Htsolved, That the Senate has received with piofouud sorrow the announce- 
ment of the death of Hon. Thomas Allen, late a member of the House of 
Representatives from the .State of Mi.ssouri, aud tenders to the family and 
kindred of the deceased the assurance of sympathy in their sad bereave- 
ment. 

Hesolved, That the liusincss of the Senate be now suspended that oppor- 
tunity may be giveu for titting tributes to the memory of the deceased, and 
to his eminent public aud private virtues, aud that, as a further mark of re- 
spect, the .Senate at the conclusion of such remarks shall adjourn. 

li'isolii'd. That the Secretary be ilirecti'd to transmit to the family of the 
deceased a cojiy of thesi' resolutions. 



LiFK AMI rr{.ii:.icTj:i; or tiiomas all/:x. 29 



Address of Mr. Cockrell, of Missouri. 

Mr. Presidknt: It hecoines my sad duty to ask tlie pa.si3age of 
these resolutions, and to join in ])aying the last otliicial tribute to 
tlie memory "f my decea.sed eolleiigue of the House, Hon. Tho.mas 
AlTjEX, will I was born at Pitt.sfiekl, Mass., on August 29, 1813, 
and died at tlie Arlington, in this citv, (Hi Saturday, April 8, 
1882. 

His grandfather, Rev. Thomas Allen, a minister of the Congre- 
gational Church, historically known as the "fighting parson "' of 
the BenningtoTi battle in our Reviilntionary struggle, was the first 
minister in the town of Pittsfield, having been ordained in 1764, 
and remained pastor of that ehurdi until his death, in 1811. 

Jonathan Allen, son of Rev. Thomas Allen and father of Hon. 
Thomas Allen, several times represented the town of Pittsfield 
in the legislature and his district in the State senate; was a quar- 
termaster in the war of 1812, and one of the founders of the 
Berkshire Agricultural Society; and for his second wife married 
Miss Eunice Williams Larned, daughter of Darius Larned and 
granddaughter of Col. Israel Williams, of Hatfield, a loyal adhe- 
rent to the British Crown in our Revolutidnary war. 

Of this marriage eight children were born, of wiiom Hon. 
Thojias Ai-Lex was the third. Mr. Allex, in his youth, at- 
tended the common schools in his native town and the Pittsfield 
Academy. At the age of sixteen he entered Union College and 
graduated in 1832. He chose the profes.sion of law, and began 
his studies in Albany, Xew York, which were interrupted by the 
cholera visitation to that city. Family misfortunes, involving 
heavy pecuniary losses, made it impracticable for him to resume 
study in Albany. 

The struggles, privations, and hopes of ^Ir. Ali-en in launch- 
ing his boat (111 life's ocean are best stated in his own words, taken 
fnim a letter to a tViend : 

Mj- K'""^ fiitlifv said to me: "I have given yon an ediication ; Iieie are 
ij'iri; it is all tliaf I I'an do; <;o anil take eaie of voni'sell." I took tlie lioon 



30 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS ALLEN. 

witli ^nilitiidc ; :uiil willi a lull lU'tcnniiiatlmi to ictmii it with interest, au<l 
to repay, if pos.silile, the care of my always kiml parents, I started for the 
city of New York. On the evening of thi- 18th of Oetober, 1832, I took lodg- 
ings at a lioarding-honsc at the corner of Wall street and Broadway, now 
(1853) occupied by the new Metropolitan Bank. My mind was not a little 
concerned in deciding ni)on my course of life. I was at the heart of a great 
city, and often felt a sense of utter loneliness and ilesolation. With a little 
purse that must in(!vitalily he exhausted in a few weeks at most, what 
should I do? After revolving several plans in my mind I resolved to perse- 
vere iu the i>rofession of the law, as I originally contemplated. 

Knowing that I had to work my passage into the profession, I kept a vigi- 
lant eye out for employment. In a few days I discovered in the Evening 
Post an advertisement of "A clerk wanted" in a lawyer's ofiftce, I lost no 
time iu repairing to the hoped-for haven. Alas! there had been many appli- 
cauts, and the place was already lilled, and the young man who tilled it 
looked U])ou me with rather a patroui/.iug air. I resolved, notwithstanding, 
to present my letters of iutrodnction, and finally obtained ])ermission to re- 
main in the ortice and read the books, jiaying foi' the jirivilege in clerical 
labor. 

Happily for me 1 was not long in discovering that my fellow-student who 
received the salary soon had a sinecure. My necessity, if nothing else, drove 
me to industry, and with better chirography I soon won mucli of the busi- 
ness of the office, and was finally installed in a clerkship in Hatch & Cam- 
brcleng's office in Wall street, with a salary of $300 per annum. In this sit- 
uation I continued for three years, learning the practice of the law from the 
labors thrown upon me, and employing my leisure moments in studying the 
books. My pay was so small that I had to economize closely to get along. 
A part of the time I roomed iu an attic apartment with a respectable jour- 
neyman jeweler in Dn^lU(^ street, but though often for weeks without a penny 
in my jioiket I did not repine. Hopefully persevering, I increased my little 
income somewhat by copying for other members of the bar. Some of my 
letters at this time show an occasional trac<^ of despondency, and sometimes 
a little disgust with the dry study of the law, which was not half .so pleas- 
ant to me as holidays in the country. 

I was not satistied whether New York was my proper place, and frequently 
had dreams of the West, and even of New Orleans. In 1833 President Jack- 
son visited New Y'ork, followed a day or two after by the celebrated Indian 
Black Hawk. I wrote an account of the visit of those chiefs, describing 
their personal appearance aiul the unusual scenes following them in the city. 
I wrote now and then a connnent or a criticism upon passing events, which 
I sometimes published in the newspa))ers. But my time was too much occu 
pied in obtaining a living to indulge my literary taste. .Seeing that I had an 
editorial turn, a book-.seller with whom I had become acquainted Joined me 
in a plan to publi.sh the first penny newspaper ever published in America. 

While iu the country completing his arrangements others got wind of the 
design, and bcfiuc thi' pl.-ui conlil be executeil bail issued a p.'iprr on that 



LJFK JNI> ('HAUACrEi: oF TlinMAS AI.LKK. 31 

,,,,„ , ,„H.rs Huickl.v loll.nv-.l. I Mm- f^avc ,.,, tl,.. icU.=,;uKliu September, 
834 beoa.ue tie editov of the Fa.uily Maga.ii.e, a n.onthly .llustrate.l.iou.- 

"agaziue in s.^h .uon.ents as I couUl «.t fvo.n .ny law ,.„s„,ts for aW a 
vea^- and a hair. Tin, magazine .ontribut-d materially to ,uy up,,o,t. 
i^Ltthis ti,nel.as .M.^ased by the l.rinci,al law-book --^1-"- 'j^ 
New York to assist in eon.piling a digest of the decs.ons of the New ^o.k 
^ . rts frou, the earliest tin.es down to that period. Upon tins -''^ ^ "•- 
over a year. T'or n.y share of labor in that work I reeened a small b„t 
select law library. 

The'^e ^trilogies and i)riv:iti<.ns only nerved his arms and 
strengthened his heart for future triu.nplis. He remembered what 

iroract^ said : 

Nil niortalibns ardnnni est; 



And— 



Nil sine niagno 

Vita labore dedit mortalibus.. 



In 1835 he was admitted to the liar l.y the supreme court of 
New York, and received hi.s master's degree from his iihm mater, 

Union College. . 

In 1836 he visited Washington City and heeame acquainted 
witli President Jackson and the distinguished i,.d.lic m.>n of tiiat 

' "'in 1837 he journevcd to the State of Illinois to inspect lands 
owned by his uncle, General liipley, in the military reservations 
of that State. On arriving at Peoria he receiv(Ml letters from 
friends in Washington urging him to return and establish a new 

journal. „ , .. 

■ Returning bv way of New York, where he conferred with 
friends, he undertooi^ the establishment of the jonrna], issued the 
prospectus of the Madisonian, and was soon at his post in Wash- 
ington with presses, materials, find printers, and began tlie publi- 
cation of the Madisonian in tiie field of journalisn. then so largely 
occupied by able and veteran editors. He issued the first number 
on 4u^ust 16, 1837, holding -among other leading ideas "that a 
mixed currency is essential to a highly civilized commercial state. 

Mr. \'an P.ureii having been inaugurated President March 4, 
1S37, ,onv(uc.l Congress in extraordinary session on September 1, 



32 LIFE .1X1) cnAUAcriil! OF THOMAS ALLEN. 

l.S:]7. Ill the election (lien Iield t'<ir I'iil)li<' I'riiiter, -Mrssis. ( i;iles 
tt Seaton, of tlie Intelligencer, and Messrs. Rlair tt Rives, of the 
(xlobc, and Mr. Aj,LEN, of the Madisoniun, being the candidates, 
Mr. Ai.iiEN was chosen, after a contest of three davs, on the 
twelfth ballot. Political excitement then ran high, and the dis- 
cussions in the press and on the rostrnni grew warm. Mr. Au.K.v 
tinnly maintained tiie ])<>sition he had taken in the Madisonian, 
and, in opposition to the administration of Mr. \'an Btn-en, con- 
ducted tlio discussions in the ]\[adisonian with dignity and abilitv. 

In the spring of the year 18."]it jSIr. Ar,i,i;N was dangerously ill, 
and on his recovery prepared for the National Magazine a conipi-e- 
hensivo and critical review of political affairs, which was widely 
repultlished. 

In the summer of that year Mr. Ali.en, being at the Virginia 
Springs, wrote a seri«s of "I.,etters from a Convalescent," which 
were much quoted. 

In the campaign of 1840 he j)referred, as a candidate for Presi- 
dent, Hon. William C. Rives, of Virginia, but upon the nomina- 
tion of General Harrison and Mr. Tylei- for President and Vice- 
President gave them a zealous support, in opposition to Van linren 
and Johnson. 

In the midst of the campaign, on Ajiril 11, 1840, the Madiso- 
nian printing office, with all that Mr. Allen possessed, except his 
library, wa.s burned. On May 2, 1840, the Madisonian reajv 
peared under the coTitinned management of Mr. Allen, announc- 
ing itself — 

Self lioni, l)egotten by the ]>aveiit flame 
In which it burned: another, yet the same. 

The vigor and aliility of the Madisonian wore not diminished 
by the ordeal of tire, and during this wildly exciting campaign it 
gained what was then considered a very large circulation, twenty 
thousand. 

The efforts of ^Ir. Allen in behalf of Harrison and Tyler 
were not confined to the columns of the Madisonian, but were also 
effectivel}' put forth on the rostrum in addn^sses liefore the na- 
tional convention of young in(^n at I'altimorc, at a public dinner 



UlT. .l\T> t IIAItAcrKI! or THOMAS AI.IF.S. 33 

irivcii liini liv tlic citizens of lii> native town, ami in several States. 
President Harrison, on his arrival in Washington, aeknowlcduerl 
the valuable services of Mr. Am.kn, and that he had correctly 
represented his views. Of the sad oiMup who stood hy the bed- 
side when the venerable President died Mr. Ai,i.KN was one. On 
the .sueeession of Mr. Tyler the Madisonian was a medium of 
executive commnnieation with the public, and Mr. Ai.i.kn had a 
potent voice in the re<>onstruetion of the Cabinet. 

In 1842 Mr. Allrx removed to the city of Saint Louis and be- 
came an a(loi)te(l son of Missouri, and in July of that year was 
united in marriage to Miss Xnw ( '. I!nssell,a daughter of William 
C. Russell, esi|.. a wealthy and prominent citizen of that city., 
Reino- pecuniarilv independent, Mr. .\i,i,KN closed his law office 
and interested himself in the puiilie attiiirs of his ado]>led city and 
State, and earnestly engaged in the tlevelopment of tiie great sys- 
tem of internal improvements in Missouri and the Mississippi 
Valley. 

In 184S. at the request of a public meeting held in Saint Louis, 
he pre]>ared an able address, urging a subscription by the city r>f 
Saint I^onis in aid of the Saint I>ouis and Cincinnati Railroad. 

Tn 1849 and 18i")0 Mr. Ai.i.EX earnestly urged the construction 
of the Pacific Railroad in ^fissoiiri, and was elected president of 
the companv, which began the work of construction July 4, 1851. 

In 18o0 he was elected a State senator for four years from Saint 
I.(Ouis in the general a.«serably of Missouri, and was chairman of 
the committee on internal improvements, and in co-operation with 
others, succeeded in securing a loan of the credit of the State for 
S2,000,(>00 in aid of fiiis road, and in 1 85-2 1n obtaining from 
Congress a grant of public lands. 

In September, 18.12, desiring to adopt a system of internal im- 
provements which would embrace the interests and secure the co- 
operation of all i)arts of the State, he ]iroposed a plan for the aid of 
several lines of railway by the State, which, although not accepted 
as a whole, was afterward substantially adopted, giving a loan of 
the credit of the State to the original Pacific Railroad, the South- 
west Branch, the Hannibal and Saint Joseph, and the North Missouri 
:5 AL 



34 hlPli AND CHARACTEK OF TlfoMAS ALLEN. 

Railroads, witli an assignment to two of tlicni of lands grantoil to 
the State. In 1854 Mr. Allen resigned li is officeof president and 
dircftor in the Pacific Railroad, receiving most complimentary reso- 
Intions from the board of directors. In 1857 he was chosen presi- 
dent of the Terre Hante, Alton and Saint Lonis Railroad, and re- 
signed at the end of the year. 

In 1858 he founded the banking house of Allen, Copp & Nesbitt, 
in Saint Louis. 

In 18(50 and 1801, when civil war threatened our fair land, Mr. 
Allex steadfastly maintained the integrity of the Union and con- 
tributed $1,500 for the equipment of the Allen Guard, organized in 
his native town of Pittstield. 

He rendered valuable services to the authorities of Pittsfiekl in 
tilling the town's quota of soldiei's for the Union Army. In 1862 
Mr. Allen was the candidate of the " Unconditional Union Men " 
of Saint Louis for Representative in Congress, and was defeated by 
slanders charging him with disloyalty, notwithstanding his untiring 
devotion and his valuable and liberal services to the cause of the 
Union. 

In 18(37 he again interested himself in railroads. The Iron 
Mountain Railroad had received large subsidies from the State of 
Missouri and city of Saint Louis, and was surrendered to or taken 
possession of by the State unfinished. The Cairo and Fulton Rail- 
road, extending to Arkansas, was closely connected with the Iron 
Mountain. Their speedy completion was deemed important. 

The general assemblv ordered these two roads to be sold to the 
highest and best bidders. They were sold together. Mr. Ai^LEN 
purchased these roads from the successful bidders and completed 
the Iron Mountain road in 1869. In 1870 he began the construc- 
tion of an extension of the Iron Mountain road to Arkansas, which 
was completed in 1872. Having, with his associates, purchased 
the franchise of the Cairo and Fulton road in Arkansas, he con- 
tinued the extension of the road to Little Rock, Arkansas, and 
thence to Texarkana, Tex. 

All these roads were consolidated under the name of the Saint 
Louis, li'on Mountain and SoutlnTn Kailwav. 



. LIFE AND CHAliACTEl! OF THOMAS ALLEN. 35 

111 tlie rapid construction and <'<iiuplction of these roads Mr. 
Allen exliiliited wonderful aliility and energy. Tlii.s was tlie 
busiest period of his life, having in addition to the management of 
the roads named the presidency of many other corporate organiza- 
tions. 

In the rapid construction of tlie long lines of road he negotiated 
bonds, mostly in Europe. In 1877 the foreign bondholders, becom- 
ing jealous of Mr. Allen's management, instituted proceedings in 
the United States courts for the appointment of a receiver, which 
he successfully resisted, and retained the management. 

In ISSl Mr. Allen sold the road to Mr. Jay Gould, receiving 
one check for $2,000,000. 

Mr. Allen erected in Saint Louis the Southern Hotel, a magnifi- 
cent structure, which was appropriately o]iened May 11, 1881. 

In 1880 ]\[r. Allen was nominated as a Democrat for Representa- 
tive in the Forty-seventh Congress from the second Congressional 
district of Missouri, embracing portions of the city and county of 
Saint Louis, and was duly elected in November, 1880. 

Ilis health failing, he made an extended European tour with the 
hope of relief and restoration, in which ho was disappointed. Ee- 
turning to Pittsfield, he was able to take his seat at the beginning 
of the first session of this Congress and to visit the C^apitol a few 
times, when he became confined to his bed. 

Mr. Allen was strong in his local attachments and never forgot 
his native town and ancestral home. Some years after his father's 
death he purchased the interests of the other heirs in the home- 
stead — built by his grandfather soon after his settlement as the first 
minister of the town of Pittsfield— and then purchased the old med- 
ical l)oarding-house, standing on a part of his grandtather's original 
lot. Afterward he removed the parsonage and boarding-house, and 
erected in their stead the beautiful Elizabethan mansion, of Great 
Barrington blue-stone, which thereafter was his summer home. He 
also purchased two fine farms near Pittsfield, one of which had be- 
longed to his father and was the home of his boyhood. In the com- 
forts and qnietu<lc of his Pittsfield homo he sought in summer rest 
and rcH'i'eation. 



3(; LIFE AM) iHAFArTEi; OF THOMAS ALLEtT. 

Mr. Ali.E.n 1m)iv his in-otractfd illness ami (■DiiHiicinciit with true 
Christian fortitude and resignation, and on tiie morning of Satur- 
day, Aiiril 8, 1882, slept the sleep that has no awakening on earth. 

Religious service.s were eondueted Ijy Rev. Dr. Power, Chaplain 
iif the House of Representatives, on Sunday, April 9, at the Arling- 
ton, attended hv the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the 
House, his family and many friends; after which his remains were 
escorted to Pittsfield by committees of the House and Senate, and 
at Pittsfield were taken eliarge of hy devoted friends, and Imrne t<i 
his residence. 

On Tuesday, April 11, his remains were eseorted from the resi- 
dence to the beautiful C'ongregational church, of which his grand- 
father had been pastor from 17(54 to 1811, where the iinishwl an<l 
el(M[uent funeral sermon was delivered by Rev. Dr. J. L. Jenkins, 
the |)astor, from the text: 

Anil Sanniel died ; ;iud all the Israelites jiatlieied together and lamented him 
ami bnried him in his house at Raniah.— ^ Siimiiel, '2h. I. 

.Vfter which they were liorne to the Pittsfield Cemetery and buried, 
there to await the resurrection morn. Mr. Al.i.EN was energetic, 
persevering, patient, and hopeful. And, in all the relations of life 
was an honorable, just, and generous gentleman, and faithful, consist- 
ent Christian. He was a man of great literary attainments and schol- 
arlv tastes, and was the liberal patriot of literature and science. 

In the "Washington University of Saint Louis he founded a pro- 
fessorship of "Mines and Metallurgy ; " and in Pittsfield the Athe- 
noum, devoted "to promoting (Mliieation, culture, and refinement, 
and diffusing knowledge." 

On the dav nf the iiurial. the trustees of the Atheneum unaii- 
imouslv adopted the following recognition of his wortli and services: 

The useful lite of Thomas Allen, the president of this l)oard of trustees, is 
euded. To him this institution owes its existence. The continuing benefits it 
will coufer upon this eomninnity no man can rightly estimate. It has no limita- 
tions. That it is, and will be iu all the future, a most ettieient promoter of 
education, culture, and good morals we all know. 

It becomes us, thei'efore, the surviving members of the board of trustees, the 
abnoners of his bounty, at this time, in behalf of ourselves and the community 
wliiih shares with ns the benefits and advantages of this educational institu- 
liiiii, to cNpress iinr tliaiikfulncss that be lived so Imig to see the lienefieent 



HEt: AXl) CHAR ICTICR OF THOMAS ALLEN. 37 

results of his wcsll-directed beiievoleuce ; our regret that we shall iin louger 
have the benefit of his calm ami wise counsels in our board; auil our belief 
that a grateful meuuuv will eviM- be cUerished of Thomas Alli:n' in his native 
town. 

Mr. Aj.i.EN was not routenf willi tin' gift of this admirable building and 
frequent pecuniary aid. He always actively interested himself in the interests 
of this corporation, devoted, as he expressed it in the charter, "to promoting 
education, culture, and retinenient, ami dilfusiug knowledge." He saw with 
undisguised gratilication its rapidly extendiii!; iutlueiice, which he did all in 
his power to forward. 

A gift thoughtfully bestowed is always characteristic of tlie ;;ivcr. Sir. 
.\llex'S natural tendencies were toward scliolarship in the highest sense of 
that term. In all his active, busy life, cmulucting great enterprises and in- 
volved in hazardous business undertakings, he never forgot nor laid aside his 
love for literature, culture, and art. Therefore, in founding this institution, 
he gave a true indication of the real aud tiiier (inalities of the man. 

It is not for us to speak of his public career. His reputation was national. 
He bravely conducted his well spent life. No tem|)tations interrupted its 
equable course. He i)roved hiin.self in all resjiects a worthy desceudant of 
the first minister of Pittstield. upon whose monument is inscribed '^ Foifittr 
gerit cruceni." 

It is now for us to resolve thai wc will faithfully endeavor to lullill the high 
hopes which Thomas Allkn had ot the future of the Berkshire Athenenm, 
and to so administer its affairs that his name shall be Idessed by good men in 
all the generations to come. 

Voted that these minutes be entered upon the records. 

Mr. Ali.ex had two lionie.s, Saiut Louis and Pittstield, Ijotli of 
which lie iioiiored and loved, and in Ixitli of which he was lionoi-ed 
and loved. 

The following fesolntion^ were adoptetl by the hoard of direetor.s 
of the Merchants' Exchange: 

To the President tiiid Directors of the 

Merchdiita' Exchange of Siiint I.ouis, Mo.: 

Gen rLKMEN : Your committee, appointed to draft resolutions out of respect 
to the late Hon. Thomas Allkn, beg leave to submit the following: 

Thomas Allen was a member of the Merchants' Exchange of .Saint Louis, 
so distinguished in many ways that his death has cau,sed a vacancy in our 
ranks of no ordinary kind. Now that he has gone, we are the more conscious 
of his extraordinary character. 

A model of punctuality in all dealings, sincere and earnest in all he did, 
thoughtful aud considerate in all he said, uniting public spirit with his plans 
for personal profit, the inliueuce he exerted was at once to his own credit 
and for the general advancement. 

Dignified, yet conrteons: cool, yet energetic; inlidlectiial, yet candid: be 



38 UFE AND CHAIt.iCTEl! Of THOMAS ALLEN. 

lias left beliiud liirii an lidiiored uame, more valued tliau the immetmo. Ibrtiiiic 
which crowned hia career with success. 

It was equally his good fortune to accunuilate property and command respect. 

While toiling for himself he did not forget others, and in advancing his own 
interests he studied to promote the general welfare. 

As a projector of public highways, as a liberal contributor to public spirited 
enterprises, he faithfully observed his obligations, and attached to himself the 
life-long friendship of honorable men, who loved him while living and cherish 
his memory when dead. 

In order, therefore, to perpetuate the recollection of his extraordinary 
virtues aud abilities as a member of this exchange. 

Be it resolrcd. That the loss sustained by the nation, the State, and the city 
in the death of Hon. Tiioma.s Allen is deeply felt and lamented by the mem- 
bers of the Merchants' Exchange. 

Resolved, That as a scholar, writer, speaker, legi-slator, banker, railroad presi- 
dent, capitalist, and business man, the character of Thomas Allkn was of 
exalted purity and excellence. 

Besolved, That his social virtues aud personal demeauor rendered him an ex- 
ample worthy of imitation. 

Resolved, That we mourn his death as an irreparable loss to his family, to 
the community, aud to the members of the exchange. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon our records, and a copy for- 
warded to his bereaved widow with the sympathy of his fellow-members. 

S. H. LAFLIN. 
D. P. ROWLAND. 
GERARD B. ALLEN. 

Saixt Louis, April 22, 1882. 

In liis last illness he said to his pustor, "I would like to live a 
few years longer. There are some things I would like to do for 
Missouri." 

In the annual town meeting of Pittsfield, held on Monday, April 
10, 1882, the following proceedings were had: 

All business lint voting was suspended until half past 2, and then, the 
meeting being called to order, Hon. J. N.Dunham took the floor, saying that 
though ill the ordinary business of a town meeting there were matters about 
which there would be disagreement and difference of opinion, he desired to 
call attention to a matter in which there would be no disagreement. He 
would turn aside for a moment from the business of the warrant aud review 
for a short time the past year. From the meeting to-day wo miss many dis- 
tinguished men who have died during the year — men who had taken active 
part in the proceedings of the town in the past, and by their influence had 
done much to shape, improve, and preserve the good name of Pittsfield. He 
tlieii alluded to .Joliii C. Parker, .liidge Colt, Ensign H. Kellogg, Zeno Rus- 
sell, TlieiMloiel'omeroy, Scdoinon L. Kiisscll, and (ieorge P. liriggs, and closed 



L7FJS AMI) CHAHACTE1! OF TIIDMAS ALLICX. 39 

with fitting reference to Thomas Allen's deatli, and otieieil tlie loliowing, 
which, by a nnaninions rising vote, was allotted as an expression of the sen- 
timents of the meeting and ordeied inscribed in the records of the town : 

"Thomas Allex, a native of Pittsfield, a Representative in the t''orty- 
seventh Congress of the United States from Missouri, his adopted State, died 
at Washington, District of Columbia, at bis post of duty, April 8, 1882, ami 
his remains have to-day been brought to this town for burial, the home of 
his boyhood and his abiding place when seeking rest or recreation, and it is 
meet and proper that the citizens of Pittsfield, while assembled this day at 
its annual town meeting, should, for a moment at least, pause in their pro- 
ceedings to consider the life and death of one of her most distinguished sons, 
one who for a lifetime has taken a deep and lively interest in the welfare of 
the town ; one who, in timeof the war, exhibited his patriotism by word and 
deed, by his liberal contribution to equip the Allen Guard for immediate duty 
in the field, for his various and varied work and charities while the war lasted ; 
one who by his magnificent and munificent gifts to the town of Pittsfield, by 
causing to be erected at his expense that enduring monument known as the 
Berkshire Athenenm, thereby insuring the establishment of a free public 
library, open to all alike, rich and poor, native and foreign born, an educational 
institution of itself, its benefits beyond computation. The citizens, yes, the 
town of Pittsfielil, will ever remember Thomas Allen with j>ride and grati- 
tude, and now that he is dead, we temler to his afflicted family our hearty 
sympathy, and desire that this statement may become a part of the records 
of this town as due not only to the present, but future generations." 

These public proceedings on the part of citizens of Saint I^ouis 
and Pittsfield portray the true character of ^Ir. Ai-Lex, and show 
the friendship and love entertained for iiim l>y those who knew him 
best. 

Mr. Allen inherited a sound body, full of vitality, a vigorou.s 
mind, a clear judgment, a firm will, and a high moral sense — was 
" well-born." So it has been said Mr. Allex derived his descent 
on one side from one of the Eevolutionary whigs most noted for 
his uncompromising zeal, and on the other, from one of the staunch- 
est American adherents to the British Crown. 

Mr. Allex was the head of an interesting and -intelligent family 
circle — a wife and seven children— in whose cultured society and 
companionship he took great delight. He was a faithful and loving 
husband, a kind and affectionate father. 

Mr. Allen was a member of the Congregational C"hurch,anda 
man of faith and of prayer. In his last illness he said : " I know 
not how it is with other men, but I have been a man of j)ray('r all 



40 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS ALLEX. 

my life. I have always, before iiii|i(irtaiit ilecisicms, souglit guid- 
auee from God." 

His pastor, in the eouclnsiuu of the fuiierai diseuurse, portrayed 
the true (Jhristian eharaeter of Mr. Allen iu these words: " He 
felt the imperative claim of the rigiit. He revolted from the wroug. 
At the base of his character was this firm rock. Allied to his 
moral sensitiveness was Mr. Allex's taith in (iod. He had this 
not as an inheritance but as a conviction. (Jwd was an intelligent 
person to him, a being from whom direction could be received, to 
whom service was due. ^Mr. Allen believed in immortality. He 
may well have l)elieveil in it. He couhl not easily ('ouclude that a 
force that liad been what his personal will and energy had l>een 
should suddenly cease. He never supposed it would. In tlie long 
.sickness which he suffered from his mind was naturally much en- 
gaged with the supreme problems of life and detith. He was able 
to think calmly and protractedly. His thouglits were high. He 
liad, lie said, during his last illness, revelations. Yi's, revelations 
of God, and in many ways. Evidently (tO(-I was in liis thoughts 
nuich. iSo in tiiose weeks, months ot pain, of continement, as he 
was drawing nearer to God, God drew near to him. And at last 
lie was not, for (iod had taken iiim." 



Address of Mr. Dawes, of Massachusetts. 

Mr. PKEsn)EN r : The late Representative from tlie second district 
of Missom-i was a native of Massachu.setts. He was born within 
sight of my own lioiue, and thither a committee of this Congress 
have recently borne his remains tor l)urial. 

1 may be jiermitted. I trust, a few words of tribute to the char- 
acter and worth of a de|)arted friend and townsman. Thomas 
Ai^LEX was of tijc sternest Revolutionary stock, mingled with the 
.stoutest of loyal lilood. His grandfatiier, the Rev. Thoma-s Allen, 
whose name he bore, the tirst clergyman of Pittsfield, was the sold 
of the i)atriot cause in iiis native town, and weekly from the pul|)il 



IIFI-: A^'I) CBAUAiTEli OF THOMAS ALLEN. 41 

stii-red the blucxl of his hearers to face danger and make sa. ritiees 
ill the straggle for national existence, sharing all they dared or snt- 

fered. 

Newsof the British niaivli npon Bennington, forty miles distant, 
reached him in the pulpit -ni Sunday. Dismissing his congregation, 
he called for volunteers on the church green, and, putting himself 
■It tiieir head, hastened to tlie scene of that memorable battle, where 
his valor earned for him the name of the " Fighting Parson." On 
the side of his mother, on the contrary, the grandfather ot Mr. 
Allen was one of a little band of loyalists in a neighboring 
«)uuty, eqiialh- ^vm in his convictions, and equally ready to en- 
.vunter peril .'.r make sacrifices for their maintenance. Fidelity to 
his king was a part of his ivligion, harboring no doui)t and leaving 

no stain. 

The rpialities which make up a man si-rnng of -uch stock were 
sure to be sterling ; and all the conditions under which he entered 
upon life and es.sayed its work were sure U> make of Inin a robust 
and aggressive character. The mountains round about the home 
of his youth were not more lirndy fixed in their abi.ling place than 
the faith in (iod and His law which came t.> him with his first 
breath: and tiuir side- were not more rugged or hard to climb 
than the path along which his early footsteps were led. By the 
Hresideaud .m the mother's knee and in the school-house- by the 
n.adside, seaut in comfort and appointments, was begun that tram- 
i,,.- of faculties in .Mr. Allln. of a .piality and temper sure to 
develop a force in tiie world. 

He was the fifth of a Ihmily of ten children, wh.mi his fathei 
was able oidv bv the ni..st rigid economy to support upon thi 
products which a small Jierkshire farm reluct:uitly yiel.led to un- 
remitting toik Little bevond the time spent in attendance upon 
the distHct school was it in the power of his father to bestow upon 
l,iu, in preparation for his work in life. But (his time was so 
well spent that he found others willing to help him build upon the 
foundation thus laid, and under the preparatory tuition of Cliester 
Dewev, one of the best of New England teachers, in his native 
t.,wn 'aiul the tea<'iiing of the celebrated Dr. Xott, oi' I'niou Col- 



li c 



42 J^II'l'^ -iifl) CHARAUTEU OF TUOM.ls ll.LEN. 

lege, he took witli the honors of the college tiie degree of Bachelor 
of Arts from tiiat institution before he was twenty years of age. 

He was admitted to the liar in New York City at twenty-two, 
and came to Washington in tlie winter preceding the inauguration 
of Mr. Van Buren, on his way to New Orleans to commence the 
practice of his profession. He had inherited a taste for politics. 
Jeffersonism was preached weekly from the pulpit of his grand- 
father, and Federalism from a neighboring church which liad col- 
onized from the mother churcii for tlie very purpose of securing 
political liberty. This natural taste for politics, cultivated from 
his early youth, had frequently engaged him in contributions for 
the press. Even before entering college lie was editor of a paper 
publisiied in the institute at whidi he was a student, and while 
pursuing his law studies in New York his political writings and 
literary criticisms not only contributed to his support but attracted 
the attention of the leading politicians and men of letters in that 
city. 

Few, if any, men of his years had written s(j much for the press 
as had Mr. Ali.ex before he came to this city. He was here 
caught in that excitement and whirl of politics which ushered in 
and distracted to the end the administration of Mr. Van Buren. 
He plunged at once into the tight, and forgot New Orleans. Es- 
pousing the side of die Conservatives of that day, he sent back to 
the New York press such sharj) criticisms of men and measures, 
and such able discusssions of the issues then just Ijeginning to 
divide the Democratic party, that he was at once recognized as no 
mean force in the approaching struggle. In August of that yeai-, 
a month before the extra session called by Mr. Van Buren, in the 
midst of a i)olitical hurricane, the Madisonian newspaper was es- 
tablished by the Conservatives as a rival of the Globe, and as the 
organ of that wing of the Democratic party which refused to follow 
Mr. Van Buren in the new financial policy that ultimately wrecked 
his administration. 

This young man, with no other capital than liis brain, and with 
no weapon but his pen, was called to the editorshij) and manage- 
ment of that ]xip( r, and coin]H'llc<l to mct't in jiolitical controversy 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS ALLEN. 



43 



nn.l conflict the Globe, then edited by the elder Blair, the ablest 
political editor of his time, and the National Intelligencer, under 
the management of those veterans of the press. Gales and beaton. 

At the opening of Congress Mr. Allex, then only twenty-three 
years of age, was elected by the House of Representatives Pub he 
Printer and two vears later he was elected to the same oftice by 
the Senate, each branch of Congress at that time choosing its own 

^'"xhTofficc was one of great political power and iutluence. The 
disbursements and responsibilities of Public Printer in those days 
were very great, and few came out of the office unstained. Mr. 
Allen was one of the few. Our history furnishes no parallel to 
this bestowal by the House of Representatives and the Senate ot 
the United States successively of such power and responsibility 
upon one so voung. Here he remained doing extraordinary work 
4h extraoKlinarv success for nine years. AVith a spotless name 
an.l a fame already established, at thirty-two he left Washington 
for Saint Louis, then in its infancy, to commen.^e the permanent 
work of his life amid the grand possibilities just opening up on 
theother side of the Mississippi. , .. t. 

His life thus far had been one of preparation and training. It 
was a New England product, rounded out somewhat by unusual 
culture and contact in a broader held, but nevertheless essentially 
the tough fiber, the stiif will, and the quick wit, elements of New 
England character. He was c-lear of sight, persistent in purpose, 
and firm in taith. He believed that a dividing line separated right 
from wrong in all the aifairs of men, and that the right ever and 
everywhere was better than the wrong. As light was given to 
discern that line, it was followed wherever it led. Many things 
distorted the vision, but nothing ever confounded the distinction or 
tempted him to barter the one for the other. New England does 
not furnish field or scope enough for the trained tacultics and wid- 
ening vision of all her children, and she parts with them to grap- 
ple with the^reater opportunities and grander conditions of West- 
ern life. She has thus made large contributions from her wealtli 
of intellectual and will force to the tide whi.'h has Hown in through 



44 LIFE AMJ CHARACTER OF THOMAS ALLEX. 

the wide gates uf opportuuity and pronii.se the West has opeued 
to Iiealthy adventure aud intelligent enterprise. She has not re- 
pined at her couseijuent iiiipoverishnieut, nor envied the younger 
and muiv. ardent of lier sisters the rich endowment brought to theiu 
by this espousal of tiie vigor and burning zeal of the lje»t of her 
sous. 

Mr. ^Vj.len was among the most amply equippi^d aud best 
trained of tliat army of young men who liave, for the last forty 
years, in one uiibrolven column, marched out from New Enuland 
homes and institutions and pitched tli(»ir tents, and, unfolding ban- 
ners woven at home, have planted under tiieir folds great States, 
budded nolde institutions, and developed wealth and power not 
possible to tiiose who remain behind. Saint Louis was hencefortii 
to be iiis permanent home, and the State of his adoption was there- 
after to command iiis jxiwcrs and to stinndatc n\u\ reward his am- 
bition, ^lissouri was fortv vcars atio more like a sleei)iui;' aiant 
than the great and powerfid em])ire into which siie lias since de- 
veloped, riciiest among the ricii in all mineral wealth, strongest 
among the strong in the heart and nerve aud ((infidencc of more 
tiian two million people, witli a commerce oi' national in)])ortance 
and a railroad .system of continental limitaiions. 

How large a part tiie far-reaching .sagacity and the broad and 
ciitholic comprehension of opportunities aud possibilities whicii Mr. 
Allen brought to that State at a most fortunate time in tiic^ tide 
of its material growth aud development have borne in arousing 
tjiis giant from its slumbers and arraying it in the pano])lv of its 
owu power anil glory, [ leave to the justly ap])reciati\-c and more 
appropriate utterances of its own llepreseutatives to estimate. 

We of the older States have wondered at autl admired the mar- 
velous rapidity with which this great State has marched to the 
commanding position to which its wealth of resources summons it, 
and wc of Massachusetts are ])rou<l ot' the agency one of her sons 
has had in the grand I'csidt. >>'e\t to the founders of States the 
greatest characters in hi.storv are those who build the institutions, 
awaken the agencies, and gui<lc tiie forces which make States great, 
powerfid, and imperishable. Such a place in histor\- will those 
who write of ^li.ssouri assiy-n to Mr. Allk.n. 



i.iiE AMI en in.tcTKJ! <ir tiiom.is ai.i.es. 45 

I'lit, Mr. Pi'('si(l<'til, 1 turn l'n))n this too iittrMctivr |);ii:;i' in liis 
career hack to the phicc of iiis hirtli and tlic home of his fathers. 
How his hnc for it increased witii Ins yearsi How, in tiie midst 
of his pi'ospcritv and affliicncc, ids lieart and hand opened witli 
ijenerons appreciation of its welfare! Karly in tliat career of re- 
markable prosperity, wiiich was continned to the end of his life, 
he repurchased from strantiers the ])lace of his birth and the home 
of his fathers, and (>rccted there an elegant and enduring mansion 
of stone, which was his summer home tor thirty years. How fit- 
tintr that his remains, now tiiat liis work here is tinishe(l, shtmld 
be borne bv Missoiirians back to this resting-place, toward wiiich 
his tiioughts and heart ever turned, and be deposited i)y tiieni l)e- 
iieath the root erected i)y him over the spot wliei-c he was born I 

He was in all respect.s a true Missourian, and was thoroughly 
identified with the interests of the i^tatc with whose fortunes he 
had cast his lot for life. But this did not ai)ate one jot or tittle of 
his love fiir the home of liis nativity. All its best interests were 
near his iieart, and lie was ever ready to promote its iiighest wel- 
fare. He erected close by the place of liis birth an elegant anil 
costlv edifice of ex(|nisitc taste in architecture and design, and 
donated it to his native town for a library, free to all its jieople, 
and a museum for tlii' preservation for coming generations of 
works of art and historical interest — opfiiua sccii/nriiiii In wrulii 
Kn-nirc — an enduring monument to the true nobility of his nature, 
and to the clear-sighted comprehension of lasting results, which 
guided him in all his acts of beneficent generosity as well as in all 
his business undertakings. 

^lissouri was one of the border States during the war of the 
rebellion, and sutfei-ed terribly from the conflict and dis-sensions 
which divided its peojile, and arrayed communities, neighbor- 
hoods, an<l households in bitter feuds and bloody warfare. At the 
outset and throuuhont the struwirle Mr. Ai.i>E.\ was a Union man 
to the core, firm in his faith, and unyielding in his patriotism. 
His large infiuence, his zeal, and his fervent voice contributed 
much to turn the doubtful scale on the side of the Union and to 
keep his StatT* true to tiie flag and the Constitution. His contri- 



46 LIFE AND rnAl;ACTEn OF TnOMA.9 ALLFS. 

butioiis of money and jicrsuual effort and .sacrifice were not con- 
fined to Missouri, incalculable as were their value in determining 
the ultimate status of that State in the conflict. They were also 
influential in his native State. A military company of Pittsfield, 
organized before the war under his auspices and bearing his name, 
marched out of town at the first call, meeting its absent com- 
mander on the way, and, taking its colors from Mr. Allen's own 
hand as it passed through New York, entered Washington among 
the first of the troojjs that reached the capital. 

The recruiting service, the Army in the field, and the hospital 
commanded his influence, his mind, and his means till peace was 
restored. And in the solution of the many difficult and compli- 
cated problems which at the close of the war confronted the 
statesman and distressed the patriot, his influence and counsel 
were ever bent to such an adjustment of discordant elements that 
peace born of the eternal and unchangeable principles of justice 
and I'ight might come to stay, and with healing in its wings reha- 
bilitate the Republic. He lived long enough to see his adopted 
State yield to such counsel and to early enter upon the enjoyment 
of the beneficent results which are the compensatory glory of the 
terrible struggle through which, as through fi-re, this people has 
been led. 

Mr. Allen lived and died a Democrat, and the love of polities, 
of which he had a taste in early life, never abated amid the absorb- 
ing demands of vast and varied business relations, that engrossed 
his mind and taxed his strength through the larger part of his 
life. 

He occasionally held offices of distinction and responsiliility in 
Missouri, was more than once a State senator, and at different 
times was brought before the people for their suffrages as Repre- 
sentative in Congress ; but the claims of large business enterprises, 
reaching out into other States and ever growing upon his hands, 
still unfinished, were long too strong to be disregarded and too 
important to be neglected. It was only recently that he was able 
to relieve himself from their burdens and exactions and to seek in 
the relaxations of leisure and the delisrhts of foreitru travel re- 



LIFE 



Ayi> CHMUCTEB OF THO.'ifAS ALLEN. 47 

newed l.calth and vi^or. Tlie electors of tl.e seeond Congressional 
distriet of his State immediately ealled him into the.r service, and 
he was elected bv a large ma)ority, in November, 1880 to the 
Forty-seventh Congress. He spent the interval between his elec- 
tion and the assembliug of Congress, in December, 1881, in seek- 
in^ to regain his shattered health by rest and toreig.i travel. It 

was a vain search. , , , e 

The draft upon his strength had been eoutuuied to.> long toi 
recoverv, and all effort to regain ground lost proved unavailing. 
He returned from an extensive tour in Northern Europe m No- 
vember last oiilv to realize that his work was over. The fatal 
disease had already so far advanced that he was unable to reach 
Alissouri and again meet his constituents. He turned with long- 
in- to his ilassachusetts home, and came to it for the last time 
feeling with the poet — 

Where'er I roam, wliatever realms to see, 
My heart, untraveled, fondly turns to thee. 

He came to Washington an<l took his seat on the first day of 
the session, all too weak for the effort, but was unable to appear 
in the House more than once or twice afterward. The fatal result 
became early apparent to him, and he awaited it long, upon a bed 
of great pain and anguish, with patience and calmness. It was a 
disapi-ointment to him not to be permitted to discharge the public 
tru-^t which had been committed to him. Among his last words 
were • " I would like to live a few years longer. There are some 
thinc^s I would like to do for Missouri." But it was ordered 
otherwise He was bidden to lay off the harness, and he obeyed 
the command in the inspiring faith that it was but a summons to 
a higher life and a nobler work. This co.nmand came to him on 
the morning of the 8th of April last. 

Thus ended a life which, by whatever standard man may mea.s- 
ure it, fell little short of life's great end. It was a busy life, leav- 
ing no known duty undischarged, no known wrong unnghted ; 
full of amenities and svmpathies, hopes, and aspirations. It en- 
,.ount.T...l :.ll life's antaooiiisins and .•onflicts with wis<l„m and 



48 i-ivF' AND (hahactei; of thomas allen. 

coiirajie, meftiii};' ;ill its rcspousiliilitifs mikI slirinking Iroiii none 
of its burdens. Ho lived cvrr true tii the motto liinided down to 
him hy his fatliers, Fortifcr t/cnl cniccni, and died in tlie Christ- 
ian's faith that beyond (his life there awaited him an immortal 
crown. 



Address of Mr. Brown, of Georgia. 

Mr. Pkrsidknt: I have been informed by some of the friends 
in this body of Mr. Aivi.KN, the deceiised, that it wonld be agreeable 
to them for me to snbmit some remarks ot) this occasion. If the 
condition of my health iiad permitted I should have availed mv- 
self, with i^reat pleasure, of this opportiniitv to attempt to pav a 
just and ajipropriate tril)nte to the memory of the <leeeased, whose 
deatli we all mourn as a ]>nblic calamity. But such is tlie condi- 
tion of my throat that 1 must not at present attempt to speak at 
any length on any subject. Before 1 take my seat, however, I feel 
it my duty to remark that I had a very j)leasant accjiiaintance with 
Mr. AlIvEN for a number of years, mostly as a railroad man, in 
connection with imjwrtant railroad interests. He spent mnoh of 
the more active portion of his life as such manager on a large scale, 
conducting some of the most imj)ortrtnt and -extensive enterprises 
of the country. And I take great pleasure in testifying that in 
the line of his profession he had few equals. His business tact, 
quick perce]ition, keen penetration, and executive capacity were 
remarkable. 

Mr. AiXEN was always courteous, kind, and considerate of the 
feelings and wishes of others. In .social life he was a general 
favorite. He leaves a most interesting family to mourn their 
irreparable loss; but he leaves them the rich legacy of an irre- 
proachable character, and the bright example of his useful life as 
a .safe guide for their future conduct. But, Mr. President, I must 
leave it to others more able and eloquent, who are in better condi- 
tion, to do full justice to the life, services, and memory of the dis- 
tino'uished dead. 



lAtr. ASH cii.ti.-.K ri:i: of thom.is allex. 49 



Address of Mr. Vest, of Missouri. 

Mr. Prksident : Ni'w England lias .scut many ui' litr .sun.-; to 
wealtli and h(inor in the West, hnt lier i-ncrgy, wmrage, stwulfast- 
net<.s of purpose, and intellect liave never been more fully illus- 
trated than in the life and cluiracteristi(!s of Tho.mas Allkx. 
The story of his life is peculiarly American, and marked with all 
the salient points of our j)ushing, aggressive civilization. 

When nineteen years old young Ar.i.EN left his home at Pitts- 
field, Mas.s., with $'2.") as his patrimony, a sound constitution, an 
honest name, and a collegiate eilucation to enter the arena where 
.so manv fall woundecl and vani[uislic(l and so few are crowned 
with the laurel wreath. Not for an instant was there anyijuestion 
of his suece,ss, for, l)esi<lcs health, talent, and education, the young 
adventurer had those i)ricclc.ss jewels, self-control and systematic 
labor. 

For three years Mr. Allkn read law in the city of New York, 
but .soon became engaged in jom-nalism, for which pursuit he had 
decided taste and talent. In 18;]7 he established in this'' city a 
paper known as the Madi.sonian, and while engaged in its publica- 
tion was elected Printer of the House of Representatives and then 
of the Senate. In 1842 he removed to Saint I.ouis, and there 
ent€i'ed upon the eventful career which has Ixmnd up his history 
for all time with that of the State to whose welfare and greatness 
he contributed .so nnicii. His broad, comprehensive, active mind 
seized at once the necessities of the vast region west of the Missis- 
sippi, then just beginning to pulsate with a new life, and he de- 
voted him.self to railway transportation. In 18-")0 he became 
])resident of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, now extending across 
the entire State from east to west, and brought the first locomotive 
t<j the western shore of the great river. In the .same year Mr. 
Am. EX was elected t<> tlic State senate, and there he originated and 
organized the svstcni of railways now reaching every portion of 
Mis.souri. Sub.sci|iicntly he built the Saint T>ouis, Iron ^founlain 
4 AL 



50 LIFE AND CBAHAVTEH OF THOMAS Al.LUN. 

and Soiitliern liailroatl from Saint Louis to Te.\ai-i<aiia, binding 
together tlie t\vo great empires of Missouri and Texas. 

Mr. Allkn was elected to tiio Forty-seventii Congress from 
the second district of Missouri, Ijul liis physical condition prevented 
his active participation in the public business. 

Such is the brief resiun6 of a singularly active and useful lili' 
devoted to the Ijest interests of men and not to self-indulgence. 
Of such lives it has been well said : 

The seeds of good they sow are saered seeds, 
And hear their righteous tViiits tor general weal. 
When ^leei)S the htishanilmaii. 

Esseutiallv a man of business, and the possessor of large wealth, 
Mr. Ali.ex never hoarded money, or regarded it but as the in- 
strument for great and beneficent purposes. His j)ersonal habit- 
were simple, almost to austerity, wiiile to public objects and enter- 
prises he gave with princely liberality. Xor did the pursuit of 
wealth or his practicxil life harden his nature, or cause him to for- 
get ids alum ninfer and the classic tastes of his youth. He was 
the first president of the University Club of Saint Louis, whose 
membership embraces the literary culture of that city, and he was 
auniiallv re-elected, filling the position at the time of his death. 

Of education, whose magic wand can alone e.xorcise 

These twin gaiders of th<' hiiinan lieart, 
T.ow birth and iron fortnue, 

he was the earnest advocate. To literature, science, and the arts, 
advance and improvement in ail that elevates mankind, his time 
and fortune were freely given. 

And so, another earnest, active intellect is stilled, another toil- 
ing life is ended. Helpless we stand at its close, and with feeble 
imperfect words attempt to tell the stoiy of the years of labor, 
ambition, success, misfortune, joy, and sorrow wiiich checkered 
this long and eventful career. All that we know certainly is that 
it lias ended, and that our friend has at last laid down ids burden, 
h'or the rest, fiiith and hope I 

The Hindoo maiden, whose lover oi- rehitivc has gone upon a 



LIFE AKI) VHAHACTEli OF THOMAS ALLEX. 51 

lung or dangerous jouniev, a.s the shades of evening fall, places 
upon the bosom of the Granges an earthen vessel, wreathed with 
flowers, containing a lighted taper, and watches its progress down 
the stream, believing that its fate is typical of that of the absent 
loved one. For many long and sad months those who loved him 
watehed the feeble light of the life now ended, as it floated away 
upon the river of time. It can be seen by mortal eyes no longer. 
But mav we not hope that upon the great ocean of eternity it has 
burst into noontide splendor ! 

Missouri thus reverently closes the last page of the life's history 
of her beloved son, her honored Representative, her most illustri- 
ous citizen. 

I move the adoption of the resolutions. 

The resolutions were adopted unanimously ; and the .Senate ad- 
journed. 




lii^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



\ 013 787 545 7 • 



